The Cass Review was an ‘independent’ review of gender related care for trans and gender questioning children and young people in the UK. Commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement, the final report was published in April 2024.
The review has been widely criticised.
TransActual provided a briefing on the Cass Report soon after it was published.
The BMA have announced that they will be undertaking an evaluation of the Cass Report and have called for a pause on the implementation of the Cass Report’s recommendations until the BMA working group publish their findings.
In relation to consent to the puberty blocker research project: Third Thematic review of the implementation of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/ Rec(2010)5 to member states on measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity (p40-p41)
Academics have published a number of critiques focussed on both the methodological issues and the inconsistencies in the report.
- McNamara et al (2024). An Evidence-Based Critique of “The Cass Review” on Gender-affirming Care for Adolescent Gender Dysphoria
- Noone et al (2024). Critically appraising the Cass Report: Methodological flaws and unsupported claims.
- Davie, N. and Hobbs, L. (2024) Cass: the good, the bad, the critical
- Horton, C. (2024). The Cass Review: Cis-supremacy in the UK’s approach to healthcare for trans children. International Journal of Transgender Health , 1-25.
- Horton, C. and Pearce, R. (2024) The U.K.’s Cass Review Badly Fails Trans Children. Scientific American
- Grijseels, D. M. (2024). Biological and psychosocial evidence in the Cass Review: a critical commentary. International Journal of Transgender Health, 1–11.
- FGEN (2024). Letter from academics concerned about The Cass Review.
You’ll find many more responses to and critiques of the Cass Report on Dr Ruth Pearce’s website.
Reviews into children and young people’s gender care in other health systems:
Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of gender dysphoria – Japan
Queensland Children’s Gender Service External Clinical Service Evaluation
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