NHS services in England are told to stop routine prescribing of puberty blockers

Clinicians should stop the routine prescribing of puberty blockers to children attending gender identity clinics with gender dysphoria, NHS England has said.1

The decision was announced on 12 March as part of NHS England’s ongoing overhaul of children’s gender identity services in England.

In new guidance NHS England said, “We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of PSH [puberty suppressing hormones] to make the treatment routinely available at this time.” Instead, drugs that block puberty hormone receptors to arrest the progress of puberty and delay the development of secondary sexual characteristics will be approved only …