Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what further steps she plans to take to ensure that clinicians operating in (a) the NHS and (b) private practice adhere to the NHS clinical guideline not recommending puberty suppressing hormones as a routine commissioning option for the treatment of children and adolescents who have gender incongruence or dysphoria.

We have always been clear that children’s safety and well-being is paramount, so we welcome this landmark decision by the National Health Service. Ending the routine prescription of puberty blockers will help ensure that care is based on evidence, expert clinical opinion and is in the best interests of the child.

We expect the private sector to follow suit. There are no private providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to prescribe puberty blockers to children under the age of 16. If a private organisation registered with the CQC fails to meet the conditions of its registration, then the regulator can take enforcement action.