What has happened since the Cass Review was launched nearly four years ago?
A major review into gender services for children and young people has been published.
Here is a timeline of events since it was launched almost four years ago.
– 2020
September:
Led by Dr Hilary Cass, former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, it is known as the Cass Review.
NHS England says it has been established “in response to a complex and diverse range of issues” including the significant rise in referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust from just under 250 in 2011/12 to more than 5,000 in 2021/22.
October and November:
– 2021
January:
The watchdog says the service is difficult to access, with young people waiting more than two years for their first appointment, and that staff do not develop holistic care plans for patients, with “significant variations in the clinical approach of professionals” and no clarity in records on why decisions had been made.
– 2022
March:
July:
– 2023
The deadline for the regional clinics to be operating is pushed back amid what NHS England describes as the “complex” set-up of the “completely new service”. The new aim is spring 2024.
– 2024
March:
April:
Led by London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, NHS England hopes they will be the first of up to eight specialist centres as part of the north and south hubs over the next two years.
The Cass Review’s final report is published.