NHS Trust sued over children ‘consenting’ to puberty blockers

Jan 13, 2020 by Jill

by Carys Moseley, Christian Concern:

On Wednesday, lawyers acting for Susan Evans, who was a psychiatric nurse at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, lodged legal papers at the High Court to file a judicial review against the trust and NHS England. Evans is working with the mother of a 15-year old girl on the autistic spectrum who is on the waiting list for the Gender Identity Development Service for Children and Adolescents. The lawyers will argue that it is illegal for clinicians at the Trust to administer puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones to children under 18, because they cannot give valid consent to such treatment.

Going to court as a last resort

Evans says she has tried, along with colleagues, to talk to the clinical management team at the Tavistock Trust but got nowhere. This is why she is taking the case to court, as a last resort.

Such is her concern about the issues involved that Evans has crowdfunded the case. The fact that she has raised around £28,000 shows the strength of public support for her.