Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2020 to Question 27500 and with reference to the Answer of 6 June 2019 to Question 259019 on Gender Recognition: Clinics, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on NHS England’s pilot of new gender dysphoria services for adults.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, have been awarded the contracts for two new adult gender dysphoria services in London which are now in mobilisation phase.

A separate tender process for a new service in Greater Manchester will conclude by the end of June 2020.

All services will be evaluated as pilots over a period of up to three years.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not significantly delayed the planned commencement of the pilot services.

NHS England and NHS Improvement is still assessing the impact of the NHS responding to the COVID-19 pandemic on the waiting times for a number of clinical services, including gender dysphoria services.