The Telegraph has claimed that “trans toddlers” are being treated within the NHS for gender dysphoria.

In an article published on Thursday (15 May), health editor Michael Searles claimed that data handed to the newspaper showed at least 10 “nursery-age” children were being “treated” at NHS youth gender clinics, and at least “157 children aged nine or younger have been referred to the clinics.”

The report, which featured a picture of a baby crawling along a trans flag, accused the NHS of back-pedalling on a plan to implement an age limit for referrals to gender clinics in England and Wales.

Draft guidance published by NHS England in 2023 recommended that children under the age of seven should not be added to waiting lists at youth gender clinics. This was changed after a public consultation.

The Telegraph article claimed that the change was made after NHS England “[caved] in to activists”. However, the report detailing the changes is available on the NHS website and says the guidance was modified in the wake of recommendations published in the Cass Report last year.

Recommendation four of the report, which was published nearly a year after the June 2023 guidance was proposed, called on parents and carers to ensure that children who expressed or showed symptoms of gender dysphoria were seen by clinicians “as early as possible”. The change had nothing to do with the public consultation.

Article accuses NHS of sending children on a one-way path to gender clinics

In a number of places, Searles’ article mentioned puberty-blocking hormones, which are given to under-18s as a way to prevent puberty-related changes, in anticipation of shifting to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in adulthood.

While the article clarified that children weren’t being given puberty blockers in England because of a ban on the medication, immediately after claiming that the NHS was sending children on a “one-way path” to youth gender clinics, Searles alleged that doctors “routinely prescribed” them before the Cass Report’s shift to “holistic” regional hubs.

Even before the ban, puberty blockers were rarely given to anyone under the age of 18. Their primary use is as a transitional medication before a trans person begins HRT.

NHS England said in its report on the guidance that the “objective” of youth gender services when dealing with children under the age of seven was to provide information for parents rather than engage in “clinical interactions” with the youngster.

Children under the age of seven are not automatically put on waiting lists for youth gender services. The appropriate format of care is first agreed by a referrer and a provider, acting on behalf of the Children and Young People’s Gender Service, through pre-referral consultations.

No one under 18 being seen by the youth gender services is given puberty blockers in England and Wales, unless they are part of a clinical trial, which requires NHS approval.

Professor James Palmer, NHS England’s medical director for specialised services, told PinkNews: “We know it can be really difficult for children and young people and their families who are waiting to be seen by our new holistic gender services, and that’s why it has been so important that we put a new system in place to ensure that, while they’re waiting, they can access mental-health support if they need it.

“The NHS is now almost halfway through its planned expansion of regional services, and we are seeing significantly fewer referrals as children are first assessed by paediatric or mental-health experts and provided with care in NHS services that are more appropriate to their needs.”

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