Press release from the BMA
www.bma.org.uk
The Cass Review, which recently completed it's work a few months ago, was commissioned by NHS England to look at the existing services being offered for children with gender dysphoria. What it really did was put forward a number of recommendations which deny trans children the ability to delay puberty, and risks suspending their ability to transition. This was sadly adopted by the then Conservative Government as a reason to launch an emergency ban of puberty blockers for trans kids, something that was recently found to be legal, with the current Labour Government looking to make such a ban permanent.
The review itself was widely attacked by medical experts and organisations around the world for a variety of reasons, you can find out
more here. What's important with this move from the BMA is that they're
the UK organisation for doctors, representing 151,000 of them, and one of the biggest medical organisations in Britain. They're well respected experts and have the firepower to be listened to.
Here, the BMA's council passed the following motion unanimously.
'This meeting recognises that the provision of gender identity services in the United Kingdom is inadequate, and that transgender people should be treated with compassion and respect for their bodily autonomy. Following the publication of the Cass Review on Gender Identity Services for children and young people, this meeting is concerned about its impact on transgender healthcare provision because of its unsubstantiated recommendations driven by unexplained study protocol deviations, ambiguous eligibility criteria, and exclusion of trans-affirming evidence. Therefore, this meeting calls on the BMA to:
i. Publicly critique the Cass Review;
ii. Lobby and work with other relevant organisations and stakeholders to oppose the implementation of the recommendations made by the Cass Review;
iii. Lobby the Government and NHS in all four nations to ensure continuity in provision of transgender healthcare for patients younger than 18 years old;
iv. Lobby the Government and NHS in all four nations to ensure continuity in provision of transgender healthcare for patients aged 18 or older;
v. Publicly state support for transgender people, particularly transgender youth, and provision of prompt access to gender identity services and treatment at all ages;
vi. Condemn the increasing political transphobia which is ostracising transgender people and discriminating against them by blocking their access to healthcare'.
And are now going to be evaluating the Cass Review itself, and asking for a halt in implementing it's recommendations until they've completed their own evaluation.
The BMA is calling for a pause to the implementation of the Cass Review's recommendations whilst the task and finish group carries out its work. It is expected to be completed towards the end of this year. In the meantime, the BMA believes transgender and gender-diverse patients should continue to receive specialist healthcare, regardless of their age.
The BMA has been critical of proposals to ban the prescribing of puberty blockers to children and young people with gender dysphoria, calling instead for more research to help form a solid evidence base for children's care – not just in gender dysphoria but more widely in paediatric treatments. The Association believes clinicians, patients and families should make decisions about treatment on the best available evidence, not politicians.
Professor Banfield, the Chair of the BMA Council, said this:
"It is vitally important we take time and care to get this work right. This is a highly specialised area of healthcare for children and young adults with complex needs, and as doctors we want to be sure they get the most appropriate care and the support they need. The task and finish group will make recommendations to improve the healthcare system that has, for too long, failed transgender patients. It will work with patients to ensure the evaluation invokes the old adage in medicine of 'no decision about me without me'. It is time that we truly listen to this group of important, valued, and unfortunately often victimised people and, together, build a system in which they are finally provided with the care they deserve."
