The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for the ban on puberty blockers for under-18s questioning their gender to be lifted.
It comes after the doctors’ union announced it would critique the Cass Review into children’s gender services and make recommendations to improve a healthcare system which it said has “failed transgender patients”.
The NHS stopped using puberty blockers for children in March after the review, carried out by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, found that there was a lack of evidence to say they were safe or effective.
Research by the University of York, carried out alongside the report, found evidence to be severely lacking on the impact of puberty blockers and hormone treatments.
But in a statement released on Thursday, the BMA repeated criticism of the ban on puberty blockers, calling instead for “more research to help form a solid evidence base for children’s care”.
Puberty blockers work by suppressing the natural production of hormones — testosterone and estrogen — that lead to puberty-related changes in the body.
Earlier this week, the High Court struck down an attempt by campaigners to overturn the ban.
The BMA’s chairman of council, Professor Philip Banfield, will lead a “task and finish” group that will scrutinise the Cass Review’s findings. The critique will be shared with its UK council at its January 2025 meeting.
The union have called for a pause to the implementation of the review’s recommendations while the task and finish group carries out its work.
Prof Banfield said: “It is vitally important we take time and care to get this work right.
“This is a highly specialised area of healthcare for children and young adults with complex needs, and as doctors we want to be sure they get the most appropriate care and the support they need.”
The 388-page Cass Review was first commissioned by NHS England in 2020 in response to a significant rise in referrals to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at Tavistock and Portman NHS trust in Hampstead.
It contains 32 recommendations for overhauling NHS services, including strengthening research and commissioning a separate service for people who wish to “detransition”, referring to the process where someone discontinues or reverses a medical gender transition.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "The Cass Review is a robust report backed by clinicians and firmly grounded in evidence.
"NHS England will be implementing Dr Cass's recommendations so that children and young people get the safe, holistic care and support they need. We do not support a delay to vital improvements from the NHS to gender services."
