Cass Review

The Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People (commonly referred to as the Cass Review) is an independent review commissioned in 2020 by NHS England and NHS Improvement and led by Hilary Cass, a retired consultant paediatrician and the former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. It dealt with gender services for children and young people, including transgender youth and those with gender dysphoria in England. The review concluded that the evidence base and rationale for early puberty suppression was unclear, which led to a UK ban on prescribing puberty blockers to those under 18 experiencing gender dysphoria (with the exception of existing patients or those in a clinical trial). The Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust was closed in March 2024 and replaced in April with two new services, which are intended to be the first of eight regional centres. In August, the pathway by which patients are referred to gender clinics was revised and a review of adult services commissioned. In September, the Scottish government accepted the findings of a multidisciplinary team that NHS Scotland had set up to consider how the Cass Review's recommendations could best apply there. In England a delayed clinical trial into puberty blockers was planned for 2025, but was later delayed to 2026 due to ethics concerns about the original trial design. The final report was published on 10 April 2024. The review made 32 recommendations across all aspects of service provision, which were largely welcomed by UK medical organisations, though some criticised parts of the review. The British Association of Gender Identity Specialists criticised the review. Medical organisations outside the UK, international medical organisations, and other countries' clinical practice guidelines have criticised its methodology, findings, and recommendations.​...