Submitted by la334 on Wed, 25/02/2026 - 14:25
The Times has published a letter from a group of senior psychiatry academics urging renewed efforts to undertake a comprehensive follow-up study of children and young people previously seen by the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock Clinic.
The letter responds to the Department of Health’s decision to pause preparations for a proposed puberty blocker trial, which had been recommended in the four-year independent review led by Hilary Cass. The signatories emphasise that the proposed clinical trial was only one of several recommendations arising from the review.
In their correspondence, the authors call on the government and the research community to prioritise a tracing and follow-up study of approximately 9,000 children and young people who were seen by GIDS during a period in which referral patterns and clinical presentations changed significantly. They argue that there is currently limited systematic data on how this cohort has fared over time and that understanding their longer-term outcomes should now be a research priority.
The letter also expresses concern that NHS adult services did not co-operate with the research team originally tasked with conducting the follow-up study, and urges a reinvigorated, coordinated approach to ensure the work can proceed.
Among the signatories are leading academics and clinicians from universities and NHS trusts across the UK, including Tamsin Ford and Isobel Heyman (University of Cambridge), Mina Fazel (University of Oxford), Jonathan Green (University of Manchester), Dennis Ougrin (Queen Mary University of London), and Helen Minnis (University of Glasgow), alongside consultant child and adolescent psychiatrists and other senior clinicians.
Collectively, the authors state that there is “a lot we can learn from this cohort” and that robust, longitudinal research is essential to inform future clinical practice, service development and policy decisions in this area.
Read the letter in the Times here>>