Gender dysphoria service rated inadequate after waiting list of 4600 raises concerns

England’s only gender dysphoria service for young people has been rated inadequate, after inspectors found “significant concerns” following an unannounced inspection.1

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) took enforcement action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the gender identity development service (GIDS), imposing conditions on the trust’s registration to try to reduce the service’s lengthy waiting list.

The CQC inspected GIDS last October and November after healthcare professionals and the children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, raised concerns relating to clinical practice, safeguarding procedures, and assessment of capacity and consent to treatment.

Referrals to the service have skyrocketed from 77 in 2009-10 to more than 2700 in 2019-20. There were more than 4600 young people on the waiting list, with some waiting more …