The Times- Gender referrals for children three times higher in Blackpool

UK NEWS

Gender referrals for children three times higher in Blackpool

Children in some parts of England are up three times more likely to be referred for potentially life-altering gender hormone treatment, research has found, amid concerns of a postcode lottery surrounding the procedure.

A survey of health authorities across the country found huge disparities in the number of children being referred by the NHS for gender dysphoria.

It comes amid growing concern at the number of potentially vulnerable children wrongly being given gender hormone treatment and how health service staff deal with under-18s who question their gender identity.

The survey found that on average clinical commissioning groups refer 32 children per 100,000 for treatment, a more than 15-fold rise since 2010.

But in some parts of the country referral rates were up to three times higher than the national average — a figure that could not be accounted for by statistical chance. Blackpool, for example, had a referral rate of 115 children per 100,000, 3.6 times the national average, and Brighton and Hove had rates 2.4 times higher than would be expected. At the other end of the spectrum Luton and Hounslow in west London had some of the lowest rates of referral in the country — about 0.2 per cent of the national average.

Sources close to Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said he wanted “geographical differences” to form part of a review into NHS gender identity services for children being led by Dr Hilary Cass, former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

In 2010, 138 referrals were made for gender dysphoria, which can lead to children receiving puberty-blocking drugs and hormones that encourage masculine or feminine characteristics. This increased to 2,383 in 2020.

Two thirds of those presenting are now girls in their early teens, whereas a decade ago it was largely young boys. About a third have mild to severe autistic traits or other types of neurodiversity, and children in care are also over-represented.

The latest research was compiled from freedom of information requests by Nikki da Costa, a former Downing Street official, and Professor Michael Biggs of Oxford University. She said it was important for the information to be made public so MPs and local councils could scrutinise what was happening in their local areas rather than relying on national figures.


There has been a huge national increase in the number of children identified as experiencing gender dysphoria
There has been a huge national increase in the number of children identified as experiencing gender dysphoria
ALAMY

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