Puberty Suppressants Trial Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Alex Sobel
Main Page: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)Department Debates - View all Alex Sobel's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
Puberty Suppressants Trial
Alex Sobel Excerpts(1 day, 20 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Wes Streeting
The hon. Lady has offered a political opinion, not a clinical judgment. By that logic, we would not have any medicine for children and young people; we would never have undertaken clinical trials or studies, because we would have judged that children and young people could not take part in them. That is objectively not a sensible position.
I understand the sensitivity surrounding this issue, and the hon. Lady is right to say that people in our country have received life-changing clinical interventions that they later regretted. As part of that regret, they have shared that they did not feel, at the time, that they were making or could have made an informed decision. That is why this trial is set up in such a way that it has such strong clinical oversight locally as well as nationally. It cannot happen without not just the assent of a young person but the consent of their parent or guardian. Those are important protections and safeguards. I do not share the hon. Lady’s characterisation of the trial.
Alex Sobel (Leeds Central and Headingley) (Lab/Co-op)
I support the pathways clinical trial, but it is clear that many, many young people presenting with gender incongruence will not be able to access it, for whatever reason. I am concerned about the mental health of those who will not be able to access the clinical trial. What additional support can the Secretary of State provide for those people, particularly around their mental health?
Wes Streeting
The study includes a lot of research around wider therapeutic support and interventions, including mental health support. We are rolling out more clinics and services across the country to bring that care closer to home.