Meeting of the Parliament 08 May 2024
I am afraid that I do not have time; I have only four minutes.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has paused the use of puberty blockers at that clinic to allow relevant clinicians to review all necessary evidence and allow more to be obtained. However, that reality is not without its challenges. The decision will represent a massive setback for those young people—who, although they are very small in numbers, nevertheless exist—who have already waited far too long, were already in profound distress and thought themselves on the threshold of that care pathway, only to find that that intervention is now closed off to them. They deserve heightened levels of support around the impact that that decision will undoubtedly have on their mental health. When a young person or their family raises questions about the suspension of that approach, it is right that health boards and clinicians engage, are clear about what the decision means and ensure that there is still access to high-quality healthcare and support.
Dr Cass has recommended the suspension of such interventions because of the lack of a clear, evidential basis to support their use. That is perhaps the biggest challenge of the report, and it is one that Liberal Democrats will not shy away from. No decision in human history has not been improved by the addition of a firm evidential footing. We now owe it to the young people who are at the very heart of the matter to establish that scientific basis with the utmost care and with all possible speed so that they and their clinicians can make the most informed decisions that are possible about their on-going care.
Trans healthcare has always been a poor relation to our consideration of public health of any kind in this place, but it matters. Above all, we need to ensure that any consideration of such issues is conducted in cognisance of the challenge at the very heart of the Cass review, which is to move forward with compassion, with evidence and, above all, without toxicity.