Doctors who prescribe puberty blockers to children could be struck off, says Health Secretary

“Ideological” doctors treating those seeking to change gender will face a crackdown, the Health Secretary has said.

Victoria Atkins met with the General Medical Council over the weekend as part of efforts to ensure that medics who try to break rules banning prescription of puberty blockers face the most stringent action – including being struck off.

Ms Atkins told the Commons that “nothing is off the table” to ensure that “clinicians who subscribe to gender ideology” cannot “get around the rules”.

This could include legislation to prevent private clinics and online services registered abroad being able to prescribe puberty-blocking drugs, she said.

Ms Atkins said she would work with health chiefs to “root out the ideology that has caused so much unnecessary harm, to support those who have already received life-altering treatment, to give the next generation access to holistic care and to protect our children’s futures”.

She said it was “morally and medically reprehensible” that some online providers not registered in the UK had stated their intention to continue prescribing to children.

“I am looking closely at closing, what can be done to curtail any loopholes and prescribing practices, including legislative options. Nothing is off the table and I will update the House in due course,” she said.

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