A clinic run by former staff who worked at the Tavistock unit which was closed after being accused of rushing vulnerable children into treatment is being investigated by authorities.
The independent regulator of health and social care in England, the Care Quality Commission, has confirmed to The Epoch Times that it is investigating Gender Plus though it is not “undertaking a criminal investigation.”
The Epoch Times understands that Gender Plus is being investigated for failing to register with the health regulator.
Gender Plus says its services are for children and teens across the UK and Ireland and seven of its employees previously worked for the Tavistock Centre.
The Tavistock Centre in London, which ran England’s only NHS gender identity development service (GIDS), was ordered to close after an official report in February 2021 found issues around safety.
The interim Cass Review on Tavistock GIDS was carried out by top British paediatrician and past president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr. Hilary Cass.
Gender Plus
The new private clinic Gender Plus has offices in London, Birmingham, and Dublin.The clinic offers gender assessments via Zoom costing up to £275 an hour, which can be completed in about six sessions, according to its website.
For those under 18, at least one of the appointments “would need to be in person,” it says.
Psychological support appointments are also offered, starting at £150 for a 50-minute slot.
“We are not currently undertaking a criminal investigation in relation to this matter,” a Care Quality Commission (CQC) spokeswoman told The Epoch Times by email.
“However, if new information becomes available, that gives reasonable grounds to suspect an offence may have been committed, we will consider appropriate action,” she added.
It said that its “service management have previously clarified with the CQC that the holistic psycho-social service we provide, which includes gender, mental health and neurodevelopmental assessment and support, does not fall under their remit and as such is not eligible for CQC registration. ”
“If in the future we do provide services which will require CQC registration then of course we will seek registration,” it added.
Puberty Blockers
NHS England has moved to a system to remove young people who believe they have gender dysphoria into regional centres that will take a more “holistic” approach with mental health support.The NHS said that there has been a “dramatic change in the case-mix of referrals from predominantly birth-registered males to predominantly birth-registered females presenting with gender incongruence in early teen years.”
“Additionally, a significant number of children are also presenting with neurodiversity and other mental health needs and risky behaviours which requires careful consideration and needs to be better understood,” it added.
Keira Bell, 23, was given puberty blockers as a teenager after only three hours of consultation at the Tavistock Centre. Initially, her case won a judgement that children under the age of 16 considering gender reassignment were unlikely to be considered mature enough to give informed consent to be prescribed puberty-blocking drugs. However, the Court of Appeal overturned the judgement.
“The NHS will only commission puberty-suppressing hormones as part of clinical research,” the NHS stated in a June 9 update about implementing advice from the Cass Review.
The review highlighted “significant uncertainties surrounding the use of hormone treatments,” according to the NHS.
The Epoch Times contacted Gender Plus for comment.
