Scotland to follow UK ban on puberty blockers for under-18s

The UK government had consulted the Commission on Human Medicines on the issue, with the expert group concluding that prescribing the drugs to children for gender dysphoria was an “unacceptable safety risk”.

A temporary ban was put in place by the last Conservative government, and had been renewed twice since Labour came to power.

Wes Streeting said on Monday that the UK review identified cases where children had been prescribed the treatment after filling out an online form and only having one online consultation with a healthcare provider.

The Cass review had found a lack of evidence around treatment for under-18s with puberty-blocking drugs.

At the time of publication it was criticised by the Scottish Greens, who at that stage were part of the Scottish government.

Glasgow’s Sandyford Clinic took the decision to stop new patients aged 16 or 17 receiving other hormone treatments until they were 18, a decision that was criticised by the charity Scottish Trans.

Like other parts of the UK, Scotland has seen a surge in the number of young people questioning their identity or experiencing gender dysphoria.

The Sandyford is the only specialist service for under-18s in Scotland.

A freedom of information request from BBC Scotland News revealed that 1,100 patients were on the waiting list for the centre at the end of 2023.

In Scotland, 43 patients have continued to receive either puberty blockers or “gender affirming hormones” such as testosterone or oestrogen, as they were prescribed the treatments before the April decision was made.