The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy recently issued a position statement. In it they recognised that therapists with ‘gender critical’ views are likely to want to help clients resolve their gender related distress psychologically rather than through invasive medical treatment. The statement goes on to acknowledge that gender critical views are protected in law, that the exploratory therapy associated […]
Following recent case law, and the publication of the interim Cass Review report, the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is today issuing a statement on the law regarding gender-critical views and its implications for the practice of psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling. This statement is also being made to highlight the fact that exploratory therapy must not be […]
Medical, legal, and cultural debate over the practice of youth gender transitions has come to the birthplace of the Dutch Protocol The following is an extract from an article on the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine’s website about the beginnings of discussion and debate in the Netherlands about the practice of gender transition in […]
History of Psychiatry Volume 34 Issue 4, December 2023 David Pilgrim, Department of Psychology, University of Southampton This paper is a timely examination of the history of two distinct current clinical positions, that could help us understand and contextualise concerns about legislation to include gender identity in a ban on “conversion therapy”. The first is […]
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The spectre of suicide
Against the weaponisation of youthful suffering An article by a child psychiatrist on the abuse of “suicide risk” in promoting medical intervention for children who identify as trans was recently published in The Critic. The author wrote: When a child identifies as trans, the spectre of suicide is frequently raised by campaigners — sometimes in […]
A recent review paper by Halasz and Amos in the journal Australasian Psychiatry, gives a history of the GIDS service at the Tavistock centre from its inception in 1989 to its closure in 2022 and compares “gender-affirming” and “comprehensive care” approaches. The term “gender-affirming care” refers to social, medical and surgical interventions that change the […]
CAN-SG’s submission to NHS England’s consultation on interim clinical policy on use of puberty suppressing hormones for children and young people with gender dysphoria/gender incongruence CAN -SG has submitted its response to the NHS England consultation. The consultation closes on 1 November. Anyone who has an interest in this policy can contribute to the consultation. […]
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Webinar #CANSGDoNoHarm
Clinical Advisory Network On Sex & Gender welcomes you to the first in our series of interactive webinars. These webinars will begin to cover the scope of our concerns and our work in the field of sex and gender in health care. Louise Irvine GP and Co-chair of Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender. […]
The Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender has submitted its response to NHS England’s consultation on its interim clinical policy for puberty suppressing hormones. We welcome the proposal to end the routine prescription of puberty suppressing hormones (PSH) to children and young people with gender dysphoria or gender incongruence and to focus on psychosocial […]
As a cautionary tale of what happens when we lose sight of ‘primum non nocere’ (first do no harm) as our guiding principle in medicine, the story of epilepsy surgery is exemplary.
This article appeared on the website of the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine and is reproduced here with their permission. segm.org 17 Aug 2023 The journal of the Danish Medical Association “Ugeskrift for Læger” confirms the change has occurred quietly but resolutely A major medical journal Ugeskrift for Læger, the Journal of the Danish Medical Association, […]
In May 2023 a group of doctors and therapists who are members of CAN-SG gave evidence to two cross party groups of parliamentarians, both MPs and Peers, about the risks of including gender identity in legislation to ban conversion practices, especially for the clinical care of gender questioning children and young people. The bill has […]
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Genspect Bigger Picture Conference
Kilarney April 2023 Review by Robin Ion I spent four days at the end of April 2023 at the Genspect Bigger Picture conference in Kilarney, Ireland. The aim of the event was to promote exploration of how best to support people who experience gender dysphoria, including those who have regrets about social and/or medical transition […]
A response from the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender to Dr Helen Webberley’s open letter to Dr Hilary Cass, Chair of the Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young PeopleC Dr Helen Webberley’s challenge to Dr Hilary Cass recycles the inaccuracies and misconceptions that have resulted in far too many […]
CAN-SG’s review of Women’s Rights Network Report on sexual assaults in NHS hospitals, “When we are at our most vulnerable”, published 16.04.2023 This report (1) documents the outcome of an investigation by members of the UK national Women’s Rights Network (WRN), who submitted Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to all UK police forces. These FoI […]
By Stella O’Malley:- When journalist Hannah Barnes carried out an exposé on the Tavistock for Newsnight in 2019, she was so shocked at what was uncovered that she took time out from working at the BBC to write her book, Time To Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Service for […]
This is an open letter to the NHS chief executives and chief nursing officers of the four UK nations, as well as relevant ministers, calling for the reinstatement of language that uses the word “woman” in NHS communications about women’s health. Please sign our letter to NHS chiefs – all are welcome to sign: To: […]
On 27 January 2023 The Guardian newspaper published the following letter by Dr David Bell, former staff governor at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust, on its Gender Identity Development Service. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/27/gender-identity-treatment-needs-greater-caution When considering the interim report by Dr Hilary Cass on gender identity services for children and young people, your article overemphasises the […]
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) recently published its eighth Standards of Care document (SoC8). It characterises surgery and hormonal interventions for those with a marked sense of gender incongruence as “medically necessary”. It includes a new category of ‘eunuch’ within its remit. Although SOC8 originally specified age limits for surgical and hormonal […]
The current law in Scotland requires applicants who wish to change gender to be aged 18 or over, to provide evidence of a diagnosis of gender dysphoria with assessment by a gender recognition panel, and to have lived in their acquired gender for at least two years. They have to make a declaration that they […]
Response to the Interim Service Specification for Specialist Gender Dysphoria Services for Children and Young People – Public Consultation
Dear Editor, The Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG) (1), a group of UK and Ireland based clinicians calling for greater understanding of the effects of sex and gender in healthcare, welcomes Dr Hilary Cass’s interim report and recommendations (2). Serious concerns about the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) were raised by […]
The NHS confederation is launching a tender to create a practical guide to “model meaningful trans and non-binary allyship”. The confederation is a membership organisation that brings together various healthcare systems throughout the UK. It represents its members’ interests, and exerts considerable influence on government. This invitation takes a very particular position with regards to […]
The closure of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock has attracted significant public and media attention. Closure resulted from the Cass Review of children and young people’s gender services in England. The interim report recommended a new service model which acknowledges multiple routes in and out of gender dysphoria. Elevated rates of same-sex attraction, autism spectrum disorders, mental health issues, and looked […]
CAN-SG welcome this important intervention by Dr Hilary Cass and support her recommendations that gender questioning young people need a comprehensive patient and family centred service, run by experienced providers of tertiary paediatric care to ensure a focus on child health and development with strong links to mental health services. We support her view that the […]
GLADD is the UK’s association of LGBTQ+ doctors, dentists, medical and dental students. All medical schools throughout the UK have been sent a copy of GLADD’s charter relating to the so called ‘conversion therapy ban’. It was co-authored with Lancaster University, and the document has been endorsed by Dr Michael Brady, national LGBT Advisor at […]
Informed consent is the bedrock of medical practice and indicates the explicit permission a patient gives for a specified medical intervention. Consent can only be granted following discussions about the anticipated consequences of the proposed treatment, potential risks and benefits, and the outcomes of alternative treatments including no treatment. The courts regard notions of consent […]
Author David Pilgrim is joined by Pragna Patel of the Southall Black Sisters and Women Against Fundamentalism to discuss the effects of the strong hold taken by identity politics in modern society, in particular online on social media platforms. The pair will consider to what extent these kind of politics have contributed to human flourishing, and discuss whether they have changed […]