The Government has renewed a temporary ban on private prescribing of puberty blockers which was introduced under the Conservatives.
Last month, health secretary Wes Streeting said he is ‘defending’ the emergency ban, which was being challenged at the High court by transgender rights activists.
It was brought in by former health secretary Victoria Atkins in May, following publication of the landmark Cass review, and was set to last until 3 September.
The legislation has now been updated to extend the ban until 26 November, and it will also now apply to Northern Ireland from 27 August following agreement with the country’s Executive.
This prevents the sale or supply of puberty blockers prescribed by ‘private UK-registered prescribers for gender incongruence or dysphoria to under-18s not already taking them’.
It also applies to prescribers registered in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.
Under the regulations, puberty blockers are defined as ‘gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues’, which are medicines consisting of buserelin, gonadorelin, goserelin, leuprorelin acetate, naferelin or triptorelin.
Before the introduction of the ban on private prescribing in May, NHS England had banned routine prescription of puberty blockers on the NHS for children with gender dysphoria, after a working group found there is not sufficient evidence to support their ‘safety or clinical effectiveness’.
Following Mr Streeting’s support for the private prescribing ban, claims were made on social media that suicides have ‘risen steeply’ since a High Court decision restrict puberty blockers in 2020.
A suicide prevention expert then discredited these claims, warning against puberty blockers being used as the ‘touchstone issue’ in the debate.
The BMA has been critical of banning puberty blocker prescribing to children and young people with gender dysphoria, calling instead ‘for more research to help form a solid evidence base for children’s care’.
And at the end of last month, the BMA called for a pause to the implementation of the Cass review’s recommendations on treatment of transgender treatment, following ‘concerns’ voiced by doctors and academics.
New documents showing NHS England’s plans to implement the Cass review recently revealed that GPs will no longer be able to refer young people directly onto waiting lists for children gender services.
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