NHS England ‘draws up plans to allow children as young as seven to get transgender treatment’ after shut down Tavistock centre allowed kids aged three to start transitioning

• The new plans will introduce a minimum age requirement for an NHS referral
• The Tavistock centre closed last year after a review found it to not be ‘safe’ 

NHS England has drawn up plans to allow children as young as seven to receive transgender treatment, according to reports. 

Regional centres in existing children’s hospitals are replacing the shut down Tavistock centre, which allowed children to receive treatment from the age of three.

The clinic, which had no minimum age for a referral, was closed last year after a review from Dr Hilary Cass branded it as ‘not safe’. 

New plans set out by NHS England have now set a minimum age for a referral for the first time – seven years old – and will also aim to limit the use of puberty blockers. 

However, experts have warned that the discussion of gender with children could still be the ‘first step’ towards a full medical transition. 

NHS England has drawn up plans to allow children as young as seven to get transgender treatment, according to reports (file image)

Regional centres in existing children’s hospitals are replacing the shut down Tavistock centre, which allowed children to receive treatment from the age of three 

The regional centres will be led by doctors instead of therapists and will encourage the consideration of the impact of other factors such as autism or mental health issues in an individual’s sense of gender dysphoria.  

Crucially, under the plans, which have been seen by the Telegraph, only specialist mental health professionals or paediatric services will be able to offer a referral. 

Previously, teachers or activists were able to refer a child to the Tavistock clinic.  

Children will be offered therapy and support to discuss their feelings, while the plans stress that for ‘most’ young people, the dysphoria is ‘just a phase’. 

The plans, seen by The Telegraph, say that by the time a child reaches the age of seven they are ‘more established within school, and education professionals and school nurses will be able to contribute to a general observational view as to the appropriateness of a referral’. 

But Dr David Bell, a former governor at the Tavistock clinic later known for speaking up about its practices, warned that the new system could ‘easily be the first step’ towards a medical transition. 

He told the newspaper: ‘Labelling the problem as a gender problem can easily be the first step on a pathway to medical transition.

‘Their difficulties should not be designated as a gender problem, it is much more appropriate that they be seen as individuals who are distressed and this is one way in which that distress is expressed.’

Keira Bell, 25, (pictured outside the Royal Courts of Justice in 2020) launched a lawsuit against Tavistock, which she said rushed her into taking drugs

The NHS’s controversial Tavistock clinic shut its doors last year after a damning report found it was ‘not safe’ for children.

The gender identity service at Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust is now being replaced by regional centres. 

The closure followed a review led by senior paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, who warned the gender clinic was ‘not a safe or viable long-term option’.

She found other mental health issues were ‘overshadowed’ in favour of gender identity issues when children were referred to Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). 

The clinic was accused of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs by former patients who feel they weren’t challenged enough. It treated at least 9,000 children for gender dysphoria since it opened in 1989. 

Former patient Keira Bell took the clinic to the High Court, claiming that she had not been challenged enough when she was prescribed the drugs at age 16. 

MailOnline has contacted NHS England for comment.  

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