English Transgender Care Clinic is closed – considered unsafe for patients

The decision to close the Tavistock Clinic comes after an independent and ongoing review of the business. The shortcomings identified are, among others, extreme waiting times, lack of documentation and unsafe treatments.

One of the most controversial issues concerns hormonal treatments for children. The report states that it is unclear whether the treatment is helping patients.

Psychiatrist Marcus Evans, who previously worked at Tavistock, welcomed the decision to close.

“We do things with young bodies that have long-term consequences, but there is a worrying lack of research,” he tells SVT.

The clinic, which was the only one in England and Wales, will be replaced by new regional clinics linked to children’s hospitals.

Risky treatment

Michael Landin is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Gothenburg View the scientific basis For hormone therapy in children. It is believed that the situation in Sweden is similar to the situation in England. In both countries, the number of people seeking treatment for gender dysphoria has increased sharply. The most increased group is adolescent girls, who have experienced gender dysphoria later in life and often have other psychological problems.

The National Council on Health and Care and Michael Landin concluded that the state of research regarding the benefits of hormonal therapies is very uncertain.

However, we know that there are risks. When you then have to weigh the benefit against the risks and we have no known benefit, it becomes difficult to recommend this treatment, says Michael Landin.

– I think you should do as in the UK, take a step back and say, ‘It went wrong, now we’ll change’.

‘Worse for the sick’

He believes that care did not take into account other factors underlying the welfare of those seeking care.

Neglect the treatment of autism, ADHD, anxiety problems, and other things that may be behind it. He says that if you put everything under one hat and ignore everything else, you make it worse for the sick.

The National Board of Health and Care changed its recommendation for hormone therapy this spring. It should only be given in exceptional cases or in the context of research studies, according to the new recommendation.

A review of the assignment in several programs revealed how children are disadvantaged in the care of transients. over here You can see the latest.