Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the final findings of the longitudinal outcomes of gender identity in children study will be published before the commencement of the NHS England puberty blocker trial.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Outcomes and Predictors of Outcome for Children and Young People Referred to UK Gender Identity Development Services: A longitudinal Investigation (LOGIC) and the Puberty Suppression and Transitional Healthcare with Adaptive Youth Services (PATHWAYS) study are independent investigations and will run to their own timescales. The PATHWAYS study, which was recommended by the Cass Review, has several elements, including a longitudinal observational study of children and young people attending NHS Gender Services, charting their development over time, and longitudinal qualitative interviews to explore the needs and care experiences of children, young people, and their families, and how these change over the course of time and the treatment.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to develop a specialist NHS pathway for individuals who choose to detransition, and whether this pathway will be in place before the commencement of the NHS England puberty blocker trial.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and NHS England are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Cass Review in full. This includes the recommendation for a pathway to be established for individuals who wish to detransition. The formative stages of this work will involve a process of evidence gathering in the spring of 2025, focused on individuals and clinicians with experience of detransition, and professional bodies. NHS England will engage stakeholders on a proposed service specification for the new pathway, including through public consultation.
The PATHWAYS study, which was also recommended by the Cass Review, has several elements, including a longitudinal observational study of children and young people attending NHS Gender Services, charting their development over time, and longitudinal qualitative interviews to explore the needs and care experiences of children, young people, and their families, and how these change over the course of time and the treatment.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the longitudinal outcomes of gender identity in children study, what were the final results of the secondary data base analysis, and what are the preliminary findings from the prospective cohort study, which were due to be reported in 2020 and 2023 respectively.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Outcomes and Predictors of Outcome for Children and Young People Referred to UK Gender Identity Development Services: A longitudinal Investigation (LOGIC) is a longitudinal study that looks into the development of gender identity in children and young people in the United Kingdom. The published study protocol states that “The study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at both conferences and stakeholder events”. Following granting of an extension, partly due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the study is funded until July 2025. As an independent study, it is for the research team to decide when to submit their findings for publication. The study team has published several papers and we would expect to see further publications this year, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Research policy on open access publication.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of advice from NHS Sussex Trust that male lactation fluid is (1) safe and (2) beneficial for infants.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The welfare of the baby is always the primary concern, and the evidence is clear that a mother’s breastmilk has significant advantages in reducing risks of infections and should be the main drink throughout an infant’s first year of life. Induced lactation is an area where further scientific and fact-based evaluation is needed.
We have been clear that biological sex matters and it is important that health services recognise and support the different health and biological needs of men and women.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to introduce legislation to facilitate face-to-face visits between people in residential care homes and persons significant to them, in line with the recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in their letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 3 February.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We expect care homes to enable visiting unless they have a current outbreak, in which case visiting is more limited. We are currently pursuing non-legislative routes to make sure this is followed, involving our regional assistance team, local authorities and the Care Quality Commission. This approach allows us to move more swiftly in changing circumstances and to accommodate all care homes.