The Times - Psychiatrist pleads to shut down Sandyford gender clinic in Glasgow
Psychiatrist pleads to shut down Sandyford gender clinic in Glasgow
Helen Puttick, Scottish Health correspondent
wednesday august 3 2022
The psychiatrist who blew the whistle on children’s gender services at the Tavistock clinic has called for the equivalent clinic in Scotland to close immediately.
David Bell, a former staff governor at the Tavistock clinic in north London, noted that the Sandyford service in Glasgow was strikingly similar to its model
David Bell said that the Sandyford young people’s gender service in Glasgow was based on a similar model to the north London clinic that is being shut down over safety concerns.
Bell, a former staff governor at Tavistock and author of a report that raised concerns about its gender identity development service (Gids), also warned that the SNP government’s stance on affirming gender transition was “likely to make it more difficult for them to see the damage that is being done to children by inappropriate, experimental treatment”.
The Sandyford service is described as mainly helping “people who are transgender to facilitate medical and surgical treatments”
The Sandyford service is described as mainly helping “people who are transgender to facilitate medical and surgical treatments”
KATIE LEE FOR THE TIMES
The Scottish government intends to reform the Gender Recognition Act to make it significantly easier for trans people to legally declare their gender without having to obtain a medical diagnosis. It will cut the length of time that someone has to live in their new gender before being legally recognised from two years to six months.
Bell’s comments follow the announcement that NHS England is shutting the Tavistock clinic, after a review found it was “not a safe or viable long-term option” and that other mental health issues were “overshadowed” when gender was raised by children referred to the clinic. Children who questioned their gender were often prescribed puberty blockers, despite a lack of long-term research into their effects.
Dr Hilary Cass, the paediatrician who led that investigation, said that rather than a single national service there should be regional centres linked to wider paediatric mental health services taking a “holistic” view of their patients’ needs. The Scottish government has said it will “closely consider” the conclusions of the Cass review.
Bell noted that the Sandyford service, which is described as primarily assisting “people who are transgender to facilitate medical and surgical treatments”, was strikingly similar to the model at Tavistock. He said children being seen by gender clinics tended to have other problems, including autism, depression, chaotic homes and a family history of sexual abuse.
“These children have been disadvantaged by being sent to a service that only deals with gender,” he said. “These children must be treated like any other children who have psychological problems.
“The other specific problem is puberty blockers. In my view it should be an extremely rare occurrence that you should block a child’s puberty. I still consider it an experimental treatment because Gids — and I expect the same in Scotland — had not followed up those patients.”
In the wake of the Cass recommendations, research has been commissioned in England to follow up Gids patients and collect information about their outcomes.
Bell said this should also happen to former Sandyford patients, but added that “no child should go through that model at all”.
He added: “There are quite a lot of studies showing if these children are helped in a different way, with expert attention and gender neutrality, they give up their wish.
“A lot emerge as gay and lesbian young people . . . We want to celebrate gender fluidity, so people can keep their sex body but express their gender how they wish to.”
Bell, who has previously addressed the Scottish parliament on gender issues, said that the Sandyford clinic “should be closed down immediately” and insisted there “should not be a national service”.
He said a significant proportion of the SNP leadership had been persuaded by “trans ideology” and this could affect how services were provided. He said: “It does indeed make them more reluctant to address these issues.”
The decision on the future of Sandyford gender services can only be taken by NHS Scotland and Scottish ministers.
A Scottish government spokesman said: “We recognise the need to provide the best possible care for young people questioning their gender identity or experiencing gender dysphoria.
“As we have previously stated, we will closely consider the findings of the Cass review within the context of NHS Scotland services as part of our broader commitment to improve access to, and delivery of, NHS gender identity services.”
Case study
My teenage daughter has said that she identifies as trans and has been referred to Sandyford. We knew she was struggling with anxiety, like thousands of other children during the pandemic, but she had not told us about her gender concerns.
We had explored options to help with her anxiety, but child and adolescent mental health services were too busy to add her to their waiting lists. I feel utterly terrified about her plans to change gender. We know there are issues which might be affecting her, but we do not know if she would receive help with those problems at the Sandyford clinic.
Father of a trans teenager in Scotland
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