NHS poised to stop giving hormones to transgender kids

The NHS is poised to stop handing powerful hormones to transgender children.

The move to halt oestrogen and testosterone being prescribed to 16 and 17-year-olds could come as early as this week.

A majority of medical experts back the ban on the rollout to new patients, but there is likely to be a consultation period first.

It comes as the Government remains mired in controversy over its failure to tackle “extreme gender identity ideology” after a series of high-profile cases involving the health service.

Puberty blockers were banned for children in 2024, but the NHS had continued to prescribe the cross-sex hormones to some under-18-year-olds even though the benefits are unclear.

The drugs are used to align physical characteristics with the gender to which patients identify.

An internal NHS document is said ​to acknowledge​ that injecting oestrogen and testosterone can cause blood clots, breast cancer, heart disease, stroke and impaired sexual function.

It also states that the long-term effects of powerful hormones on teenage brain development remain unknown, and physical changes can be permanent.

There is mounting concern that insufficient evidence exists to continue prescribing them.

It is thought fewer than 100 children in England are prescribed puberty blockers by the NHS.

The NHS stopped the routine prescription of puberty blocker treatments to under-18s in 2024, following the Cass Review into gender identity services.

Puberty blockers for the treatment of gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria in under-18s were banned temporarily after it was found there was insufficient evidence to show they were safe. The order is indefinite and will be reviewed in 2027.

The Department of Health and Social Care said: “The safety and well-being of children and young people is paramount and NHS England follows expert scientific and clinical advice when making decisions relating to clinical policies.”

Earlier this year, Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson sparked fury after saying single-sex guidance does not apply to the NHS or workplaces.

Ms Phillipson was told to publish updated guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court judgment, which ruled that, in law, a woman was defined by the gender assigned at birth. She has yet to bring the document to Parliament, despite having had it since September 4.

In January, nurse Jennifer Melle was disciplined and suspended after a 6ft bearded sex offender trans prisoner objected to being called “Mr” when he was treated by her in A&E at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, Surrey.

That followed seven nurses in Darlington who were found to be victims of harassment and sex discrimination after County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust allowed a biological male trans woman to undress in front of them.

And in Scotland, nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended by NHS Fife after she complained about having to share a changing room with transgender medic.

Andrea Williams, who leads the Christian Legal Centre, said: “These cases should alarm everyone in Government and across our institutions.

“Urgent guidance and assurances are needed so no one who does not believe in extreme gender identity ideology has to face choosing between their beliefs and career.”