Doctors reported concerns

The Guardian on the Tavistock:

But in recent years, concerns have repeatedly been raised about the service. Inspectors rated it “inadequate” after complaints raised by whistleblowers, patients and families.

The service was criticised for its care of patients both inside and outside the clinic, and it also had record waiting lists. Doctors reported concerns that some patients were referred on to a gender transitioning pathway too quickly.

The waiting lists might be seen as a good thing, given the quality of the “service.”

It followed recommendations from Dr Hilary Cass, who is leading an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people.

She said there was a need to move away from a model of a sole provider, and instead establish regional services to better meet patients’ needs.

In her interim report, released in March, she wrote: “It has become increasingly clear that a single specialist provider model is not a safe or viable long-term option in view of concerns about lack of peer review and the ability to respond to the increasing demand.”

Who needs peer review when you have the power to turn children into mermaids?

Keira Bell, 25, who brought a high court case against the Tavistock clinic challenging its use of puberty blockers, said she was pleased with the decision to shut it. She was prescribed puberty blockers at the age of 16 but later changed her mind over her decision to transition to male. She argued the clinic should have challenged her more over her decision to transition.

“I’m over the moon,” she told BBC Radio 4’s World at One. “Many children will be saved from going down the path that I went down.

“I went through a lot of distress as a teenager. Really I just needed some mental health support and therapy from everything that I’ve been through. There needs to be mental health support first and foremost.”

And that’s not “conversion therapy.”