A Scottish child gender clinic dubbed the “tartan Tavistock” by critics will still treat more than 1,000 children and young people who believe they are trans, despite banning self-referrals, it emerged today.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said the service operated from its Sandyford Gender Identity Clinic in Glasgow would now require patients to be referred by a clinician.
The change would ensure patients were supported and placed appropriately on waiting lists, the health board said.
The changes also affect the adult gender service for the west of Scotland.
However, the ban on self-referrals will not apply to more than 1,000 children and young people already on the waiting list.
A recent review found that nearly half of children and young people on waiting lists for the clinic were self-referrals (49 per cent), with only 30 per cent referred by their GP. The remainder came from other sources.
NHS chiefs were under mounting pressure to remove self-referrals following the publication of the Cass review into gender identity services for children in England.
Dr Hilary Cass, one of the UK’s most eminent paediatricians, found that the evidence for allowing young people and children to change gender was built on weak foundations.
This prompted the Sandyford Clinic to announce that it would also no longer prescribe “gender-affirming hormones” to new patients aged under 18.
SNP ministers accepted the review’s findings “where we feel they should apply in a Scottish context” and published a report in July from senior clinicians about the implications for Scotland.
This recommended that “access to services should be by referral from a GP after an initial assessment as would be the case for a referral to any other child or adolescent specialist service”.
It added: “This means that self-referral would not be available as is also the case with other specialist services.”
Dr Emilia Crighton, NHSGGC director of public health, said: “Ensuring that our patients have the appropriate support and care they need is a priority for us and updating this referral process enables us to do that.
“Gender patients will now be referred by their GP, CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services), or adult mental health service clinician.
“In doing so, they are also advised of self-care and signposted to the appropriate support while they wait for their first gender service appointment.”
She said this would ensure “we have an accurate background for them and can immediately plan the most appropriate path of care”.
Fiona McAnena,of human rights charity Sex Matters, said: “This is an overdue and welcome change. People with gender issues should receive the same standards of care as everyone else.
“Ensuring referrals can only be from suitably qualified clinicians will help protect vulnerable people, especially children and young people, from activists.”
Campaigner Maggie Mellon, founder of Evidence Based Social Work Alliance, said: “While it is welcome news that there will no longer be self-referral to the Sandyford for or by children, the NHS in Scotland has yet to acknowledge the findings of the Cass report.
“The Sandyford needs to be stopped from accepting any referrals until their work and the outcomes for children they have socially and medically transitioned has been subject to a transparent and robust review.”
Meghan Gallacher, the Scottish Conservative deputy leader, said: “I welcome this sensible and pragmatic decision from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
“To protect the health and wellbeing of vulnerable young people, it’s right that only a doctor should be able to refer them to gender services for potentially life-changing treatment. This policy change should reassure both parents and young people that their best interests will always be served.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We welcome the work NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are doing on referral pathways into their adult and young people’s gender services - bringing them in line with the other gender identity clinics in Scotland.
“As a result, these services will no longer accept self-referrals and will require a referral from a clinician, for instance a GP, to access the services. This change will ensure both services have any clinical information they need prior to a patient’s first appointment and the referring clinician will also be able to make sure that the person referred receives care for any other health problem they may face.
“Anyone already on the waiting list for either of these services, whether they were referred by a clinician or self-referred, will not be impacted by this change.”
The Sandyford has been branded the “tartan Tavistock” as its critics say it follows the same “affirmative” treatment model as the London clinic which closed in scandal in 2022.
The Scottish clinic’s methods are based on American guidelines denounced by Dr Cass as “lacking developmental rigour”.
Its adult service accepts users from Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, Dumfries & Galloway, Western Isles, Forth Valley and Lanarkshire NHS boards and from the Argyll and Bute area.
