Yesterday the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that they have extended the temporary ban on the prescription and supply of puberty blockers, and that the ban now applies to Northern Ireland too. Earlier this week TransActual and other organisations were invited to take part in stakeholder consultation in relation to a permanent ban.
Government should not be interfering in decisions that should be made between a patient and their doctor. The acceptance of this extended “emergency” ban sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to government banning other medications that they are opposed to. NHS England themselves told the Department of Health and Social care that “If this legislation is used for the puberty suppression scenario it may be difficult to justify why it is not used more widely for other medicines.”
There is no evidence that puberty blockers pose a serious and urgent danger to health. If they did pose such a danger, they would be banned for everyone and not specifically trans young people seeking private care. Remember: access via the (yet to materialise) NHS research trial, for cisgender children and young people experiencing precocious puberty and for over 18s has not been banned.
Although our legal challenge to the first ban was unsuccessful, Justice Lang was clear that the ban had unintended consequences harmful to young trans people; preventing those legally able to continue medication from accessing it due to failures in implementation – or in our view a wilful disregard for their safety and ideological desire to withhold gender-affirming care. In her judgment, Justice Lang instructed that “NHS England and the DHSC should now consider how implementation can be improved as soon as possible, and in any event before the next order is made. This may require additional resources to be made available to [young trans people].” Despite this, we have seen no evidence of NHS England or DHSC even attempting improvements in implementation that would resolve the chilling effect of the ban on legal prescription, or providing resources such as ensuring that timely mental health interventions are available to those who DHSC have plunged into crisis.
The new government had the opportunity to make a clean break from the previous government’s politicisation of trans people’s lives and access to healthcare. Instead they have doubled down on it, continuing to take policy (and indeed law) beyond the politicised recommendations of the widely discredited Cass Report. The BMA have asked that further implementation of the “independent” report’s recommendations be paused until they have conducted their own evaluation of it. The Secretary of State for Health and Social care has ignored this.
They know that banning puberty blockers will not stop trans young people from accessing puberty blockers, but instead lead them to access them through the grey and black market without access to blood testing or appropriate medical supervision. A ban on puberty blockers increases the risk of harm to trans young people.
Wes Streeting and his advisors know this, because he was told about it when meeting with the representatives of LGBTQ+ organisations. The Department of Health for Social Care and the Secretary of State also know about the impact that the ban has had on trans young people’s mental health – we provided multiple case studies as part of our evidence bundle for the Judicial Review about the ban’s initial implementation.
To extend the ban despite knowing this is beyond the pale. Wes Streeting wrote to members of the public recently, and in that letter spoke about being proud to be the UK’s first openly gay Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. However, based on the current trajectory of his work, that is not how Mr Streeting will be remembered. His actions are a stark betrayal of the very principles of inclusivity and acceptance that the LGBTQ+ community stands for. History will not look kindly upon his decisions relating to trans children and young people’s healthcare, and nor will we.
Further information
For further information, contact jane fae at press@transactual.org.uk
Information for people impacted by the ban
An email from NHS England asked us to convey the following information:
“We understand some children and young people and families may be concerned or distressed by the restrictions. Anyone in need of urgent support can contact NHS 111 and choose the mental health option (option 2): https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/where-to-get-urgent-help-for-mental-health/.
There is also advice on getting mental health support available at nhs.uk.
If you are unsure how the ban applies to your circumstances, you may find it helpful to read NHS England’s letter to patients on the waiting list for NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Service
Microsoft Word – NHS England Letter 31.05.2024 (ardengemcsu.nhs.uk).
The National Referral Support Service for NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services also has some helpful links to other organisations you can contact for help and support:
If you are under the age of 18 and you were already being prescribed GnRH analogues before 3 June 2024, or before 27 August 2024 for patients in Northern Ireland, you can continue to be prescribed these medicines, although you are strongly advised to meet with your prescribing clinician to fully understand the safety risks. If your prescribing clinician is registered outside of the UK (in an EEA country or Switzerland) you will no longer be able to use these prescriptions, but a UK registered prescriber can continue your care if it is clinically appropriate to do so. If you are no longer able to access further prescriptions from your usual provider, you should speak to your GP. If you are already under the care of Childrens and Young People’s (CYP) mental health provider/Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) you may also wish to contact their team for advice. If not, your GP team should assess whether a referral for the CYP Gender Service or for mental health support is required.”