NHS to conduct £10 million puberty blockers trial
Under the trial, young people, with the agreement of their parents, will be given puberty suppressing hormones for a period of two years
By Gary Grimes
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has confirmed that an NHS-funded trial into the potential benefits of puberty blockers is due to commence.
The trial, which was recommended in last year’s Cass Review, will be led by a team of researchers at King’s College London who will receive £10,694,902.24 in NHS funding to complete the study which will also look at other areas of children’s gender care.
The Cass Review found that existing studies into puberty blockers and their benefits were of “poor” quality, thus necessitating the need for new research to be carried out.
Under the trial, young people, with the agreement of their parents, will be given puberty suppressing hormones for a period of two years. Their physical, social and emotional well-being will be closely monitored for the duration of this period to understand what the benefits may be.
The trial will also monitor children who attend NHS gender clinics but do not take puberty blockers.
This new study aims to “fill some of the gaps in our knowledge about the outcomes of different interventions and address some of the uncertainty about the impacts and efficacy of puberty suppressing hormones,” according to Baroness Hilary Cass, who compiled the review.
“This suite of research will examine the evidence for a range of clinical care, including the use of puberty suppressing hormones, following advice from the Cass Review,” said Professor James Palmer, who is the NHS national medical director for specialised services.
“The NHS continues to expand and improve services for children and young people with gender dysphoria”
“Independent researchers led by King’s College London will now progress this joint NHS and NIHR project, which will be subject to strict ethical and regulatory approval and follow stringent safeguards in scientific research,” he went on.
“In the meantime, the NHS continues to expand and improve services for children and young people with gender dysphoria and incongruence, in line with recommendations from the Cass Review.”
The announcement of this trial follows news last December that the government had placed an “indefinite ban” on prescribing puberty blockers to under-18s which is due to remain in place until it is reviewed again in 2027.