Fury as NHS guidance states children as young as 15 CAN be given irreversible ... trends now
View
comments
Children as young as 15 can be given 'gender affirming' hormones which are irreversible on the NHS, despite the ban on puberty blockers.
Guidance published this week states that teenagers can be prescribed the body-altering chemicals 'from around their 16th birthday', potentially meaning they could start transgender treatment months earlier.
The requirement to take puberty blockers – which stunt adolescent development – for at least 12 months beforehand has effectively been scrapped, removing any cooling-off period before starting on the hormones.
Eligibility rules stipulate that 'associated difficulties such as a psychotic episode, drug addiction or self-harming are not escalating' – but they do not rule out a prescription for individuals suffering from these conditions.
Campaigners last night said the policy was 'extremely worrying'. Helen Joyce, of women's rights group Sex Matters, said: 'The NHS must urgently rethink before any more children are harmed by medical practices that are driven by ideology rather than evidence of clinical benefit.'
NHS guidance published this week says that children from 'around their 16th birthday' can be proscribed body-changing chemicals
