A cross-party group of MPs have written to the Health Secretary warning against the trial
Health Secretary Wes Streeting (Image: Getty)
Wes Streeting has been urged by cross-party MPs to pause an NHS trial into puberty blockers for children. In a letter to the Health Secretary, the group warn that going ahead with the controversial study would be a “dangerous mistake”.
They add that it could “devastate the physical, psychological, sexual and reproductive health of over 200 vulnerable children, leaving them medically dependent for life”. It comes as the health service is due to start recruiting children as young as eight for the medical trial into puberty blockers.
But the letter, coordinated by independent MP Rosie Duffield, calls on the Government to answer a series of “basic questions” before it proceeds.
They raise concerns over whether the youngsters are capable of giving informed consent to take part and how parental consent would be obtained in cases where parents may feel under pressure or have different views to their children.
The MPs also ask why a study has not first been done to look at the impact of puberty blockers on children who have already received them.
The letter adds: “The first duty of any clinician is to do no harm. This trial risks causing foreseeable harm to a new cohort of vulnerable children.”
It is signed by Labour MP Jonathan Hinder, Tories Tom Tugendhat and Rebecca Paul, Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin, independent MPs Rupert Lowe and Iqbal Mohamed, and Lib Dem peer Baroness Ludford.
It comes after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch last month called for the medical trial to be halted, while it has also been condemned by gender-critical campaigners.
The trial is being undertaken following a recommendation by the Cass Review into children’s gender care, which concluded that the quality of research claiming to show the benefits of such medication for youngsters with gender dysphoria was “poor”.
Puberty blockers are not prescribed on the NHS to children for the treatment of gender dysphoria, after a ban earlier last year was made permanent in December 2024.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “The bar for the UK clinical trial to be approved is extremely high, with the Pathways trial going through rigorous rounds of scientific, clinical, ethical and regulatory review.
“Dr Hilary Cass herself has welcomed this trial, with participation only eligible after rigorous checks and robust safeguards are in place, which includes national clinical multidisciplinary review and parental consent. This government recognises the importance for scrutiny and debate on such an important issue.”
