Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to all members of the House of Lords on 8 August, what other forms of care will be included within the clinical study around the use of puberty blockers for young people experiencing gender dysphoria or gender incongruence.

Young people experiencing gender dysphoria or gender incongruence will be provided with care within a different clinical model, embedding multi-disciplinary teams in specialist children’s hospitals. Individuals within these National Health Service specialist gender services will be offered multidisciplinary assessment, within the context of a tailored package of care and support that responds to their individual health and social care needs. A study into the potential benefits and harms of puberty suppressing hormones as one of the treatment options for children and young people with gender incongruence is being developed through a joint programme between NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research arm of the Department.

It is planned that recruitment into the study will be through these NHS specialist gender services, ensuring that individuals accessing hormone suppression through the study do so following a holistic multidisciplinary assessment within the services above. The study team has submitted their research application, and this is currently undergoing scientific review. Subject to the study achieving the necessary approvals, including ethics approval, the NIHR will publish details of the award, including trial design and methodology, on its website. The study forms part of a wider joint programme of research and evaluation underpinning the delivery of new services for children and young people with gender incongruence. Further research will be needed to continue to build the evidence base and our understanding of best practice in this important clinical area, including for psychosocial interventions. Work will continue with a broad range of stakeholders to inform further study priorities.