Campaigners demand 'cowboy clinics' doling out powerful puberty blockers to trans children are banned in wake of bombshell report that ruled gender care is built on 'shaky foundations'

Private clinics treating transgender children must beryllium banned aft they were powerfully criticised successful a landmark aesculapian review, campaigners person warned.

Ministers person pledged to 'look carefully' astatine a prohibition connected backstage clinics aft an independent study by master paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass expressed interest complete their behaviour.

Dr Cass's reappraisal recovered GPs were 'pressurised to prescribe hormones' by patients who had seen a backstage clinician.

The report, which ran to astir 400 pages, issued a stern informing complete 'the usage of unregulated medications and of providers that are not regulated wrong nan UK'.

And Dr Cass said GPs should defy attempts by backstage providers to prescribe puberty blockers aliases hormones, 'particularly if that backstage supplier is acting extracurricular NHS guidance'.

There was nary bully grounds to support nan usage of puberty blockers, pinch gender medicine 'built connected shaky foundations', nan reappraisal said.

Home Office curate Laura Farris said nan Government was 'looking carefully' astatine nan Cass reappraisal erstwhile asked whether it would legislate to prohibition group accessing prescriptions to gender-blocking narcotics from backstage clinics and online.

She told Times Radio: 'We are perfectly clear that location should not beryllium obtaining of immoderate narcotics that haven't been prescribed and she's fixed very beardown conclusions connected puberty blockers.

'So we will beryllium looking cautiously astatine what she said and acting accordingly.'

Campaigners said nan 'cowboy clinics' must beryllium closed and called connected nan Government to legislate against them.

Fiona McAnena, head of campaigns astatine kindness Sex Matters, said: 'It's scandalous that rogue backstage "gender" clinics successful nan UK and overseas are still free to proviso British children pinch off-label puberty blockers. 

'Worried parents person been misled by mendacious claims astir kid suicide, truthful they deliberation they person nary prime but to let their children to usage these powerful drugs, for which there's zero grounds of benefit.

'Dr Hilary Cass has done everything she tin to adjacent this vulnerable loophole, including by informing GPs not to get progressive successful shared attraction pinch backstage providers. 

'She besides reminded pharmacists of their work for nan information of patients and that they could beryllium criminally liable if they autumn short of master standards.

'Dr Cass has done her best, but shutting down cowboy clinics is beyond nan scope of her review. 

'Ministers must now enactment urgently, and forestall overseas and backstage clinics from prescribing these vulnerable narcotics to gender-distressed children.'

Dr Cass's comments person been seen arsenic a informing changeable to GenderGP, a backstage session which operates successful nan UK, but is based successful Singapore.

Run by Dr Helen Webberley, nan session has taken a defiant stance against NHS guidance and only days agone issued a connection denouncing nan NHS's prohibition connected puberty blockers.

A connection issued by GenderGP earlier this week read: 'The determination by NHS England to prohibition puberty blockers for trans adolescents is empirically unjustified, ethically unacceptable, and is based connected assumptions that are inaccurate and unsupported.

'The systematic reviews by NICE which informed NHS England's determination not only neglect to admit respective applicable studies, but besides usage an inappropriate evaluative model that unduly minimises respective important sources of evidence.'

Last period NHS England announced it was banning nan regular medicine of puberty blockers to children, pursuing nan recommendations made successful Cass's interim review.

In nan days pursuing nan annoncement Dr Webberley said her session 'GenderGP will not beryllium pursuing nan NHS guidance, it will beryllium pursuing International Guidelines and champion practice'.

She cited WPATH world guidelines, which were discredited successful Dr Cass's reappraisal having created 'an evident statement connected cardinal areas of believe contempt nan grounds being poor'.

The Mail has attempted to interaction Dr Webberley for remark since nan publication of nan Cass review.

Dr Cass said successful her review: 'GPs person expressed interest astir being pressurised to prescribe hormones aft these person been initiated by backstage providers and that location is simply a deficiency of clarity astir their responsibilities successful narration to monitoring.

'The Review understands and shares nan concerns astir nan usage of unregulated medications and of providers that are not regulated wrong nan UK.

'Any clinician who ascertains that a young personification is being fixed narcotics from an unregulated root should make nan young personification and their family alert of nan risks of specified treatment.

'Specifically, nary clinician should prescribe extracurricular their competence, nor should GPs beryllium expected to participate into a shared attraction statement pinch a backstage provider, peculiarly if that backstage supplier is acting extracurricular NHS guidance.

'The Review has been told that a number of young group person sought backstage proviso whilst connected nan waiting database for GIDS, and astir families trying to equilibrium nan risks of obtaining unregulated and perchance vulnerable hormone supplies complete nan net pinch nan ongoing trauma of prolonged waits for assessment.

'Feedback from nan lived acquisition attraction groups presents this arsenic 'a forced prime alternatively than a preference'.'

Dr Cass was appointed to lead a reappraisal into NHS England's gender personality improvement services successful 2020, aft a crisp emergence successful nan number of patients questioning their gender.

Whistleblowers had raised concerns astir nan standards of attraction offered by nan work — known arsenic Gids and based astatine nan Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

The claims yet saw nan Tavistock session closed and 2 replacement location hubs successful London and Liverpool opened this period (APR).

Dr Cass's reappraisal made 32 recommendations successful her last report.