Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what regulatory action has been taken following the closure of the WellBN practice in Brighton; and what assessment they have made of whether other primary care providers are prescribing gender-related medication outside national clinical policy.

As an outcome of an Independent Patient Safety Investigation by the National Health Service, the WellBN Practice in Brighton has stopped prescribing hormone medications to children under 18 years old for gender dysphoria, outside of NHS clinical commissioning policy.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) suspended WellBN’s ‘Good’ rating while concerns with the practice were investigated further. Suspension of ratings does not mean closure of the practice or suspension of the service’s registration with the CQC.

As part of their ongoing inspection, the CQC is also reviewing historical information relating to prescribing practices at the service. This may involve the use of the CQC’s legal powers to investigate incidents where individuals may have experienced harm or been put at risk of harm within health and social care services in England.

Additionally, a number of former and current clinicians at WellBN have been referred for the purpose of further professional investigation, both through their independent professional regulator and/or through the NHS professional standards mechanism.

The NHS has analysed prescribing data relating to hormone treatments given to children under 18 years old among general practices across England and it found that the WellBN Practice was a clear outlier.