GPs risk transgender storm after issuing unprecedented warning over ‘lack of evidence’ on treatments
by Stephen Adams, Mailonline:
The Royal College of General Practitioners has issued an unprecedented warning over NHS treatments for children which pave the way for a sex change.
In a powerfully worded ‘position statement’, the highly influential RCGP says there is a lack of ‘robust evidence’ about the long-term effects of ‘puberty blockers’ that stop the body maturing, and cross-sex hormones.
And it says there needs to be far more research into the pros and cons of treatment, including medical intervention being compared with a ‘wait and see’ approach.
In plain language that could upset transgender rights activists, the RCGP also urges the NHS to record what it calls every patient’s ‘biological sex’ – in addition to their chosen gender identity – to avoid potentially calamitous medical mistakes.
It says family doctors are being pressured into providing transgender services that ‘lie outside the remit of a GP’s generalist expertise’, and sometimes face pressure to prescribe cross-sex hormones themselves.
Last night, doctors said it was the first time a major UK medical institution had called into serious question how transgender patients are treated on the NHS.