Critical gender care waiting list for children rises by 12%

Children aged under five are among a soaring number of young people waiting for gender care treatment as the NHS grapples to clear a backlog of patients.

- REBECCA THOMAS

The number of children waiting for treatment in England and Wales has risen by 12 per cent in a year, with 6,225 children now on the national waiting list, up from 5,560 a year earlier.

A total of 157 of those are aged under 10, with up to 10 aged under five. Average waiting times have also grown to more than two years for a child to get a first appointment at a specialist clinic.

One expert warned children need help “before they reach crisis point”, with numbers showing that “demand is outpacing supply”.

Responding to the latest figures, the NHS medical director for specialised services, Professor James Palmer, said he understands it “can be really difficult” for children and their families waiting to be seen.

TransActual, a charity supporting trans people, said the waiting list figures were “unacceptably high”.

Two new gender care services led by London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool opened in April 2024 following the closure in March 2024 of the UK’s dedicated gender identity clinic, run by the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

A third service has since opened in Bristol while another is planned for the East of England “later this spring”, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The aim is for there to eventually be up to eight specialist children’s gender clinics covering the seven NHS regions in England.