The scandal surrounding children's gender services at the Tavistock and Portman clinics, and the resulting fallout, is perhaps one of the most controversial issues the media has grappled with in recent years.
The topic has been deeply polarising and, at its worst, toxic, leaving vulnerable children caught in the middle. This week, an investigation by my colleague Holly Bancroft has also highlighted the impact on adults.
The health secretary's announcement comes in response to findings from the Commission on Human Medicines, which identified an unacceptable safety risk in the continued routine prescription of puberty blockers to children
With the ban now proceeding, all attention will shift to the upcoming clinical trial. For those interested, I recommend reading a recent piece by Deb Cohen, the former Newsnight journalist who played a key role in uncovering this scandal.
Published by the BBC, Cohen's article outlines the challenges facing the clinical trial, particularly the ethical dilemmas. For instance, is it right to deny some children in the trial access to a treatment that could potentially benefit their mental health? Conversely, what evidence exists that puberty blockers actually improve mental health outcomes?
These are critical questions. Going forward, we can only hope that the interests of children — so often overlooked — will remain at the heart of this debate.
It's also worth remembering that more than 6,000 children are currently on the waiting list for gender services. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, health secretary Wes Streeting assured the public that these children have been offered help and support by the NHS during their wait.
However, based on my extensive reporting on children's mental health services, I question what this "help and support" actually entails. I suspect it is patchy at best — and, as with other CAMHS waiting lists, non-existent in some areas.
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