Last summer the NHS said it would shut down its only gender clinic for children in England and Wales after a review by Dr Hilary Cass found it to be “not safe”. But the Gender and Identity Development Service (Gids) – and the Tavistock clinic where it’s based – will now close nearly a year later than planned, in April 2024. The reason given by the NHS for the delay is the “complexity” of the programme and the time needed to train a new clinical workforce. Two regional hubs, one in the south and one in the North, are set to replace the clinic. An online service is also being provided from June to support the thousands of children thought to be on the Gids waiting list – children who have no prospect of specialist in-person treatment for the next year since the Tavistock won’t be taking on any new patients. Listen to the story of how the Tavistock got to the point of closure in our podcast series The Tavistock: Inside the gender clinic.
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