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Tavistock Gender Clinic to close - it failed vulnerable under-18s

(210 Posts)
FarNorth Thu 28-Jul-22 16:35:00

archive.ph/7GRkw

This is an article from The Times.

grannydarkhair Fri 29-Jul-22 00:25:19

growstuff was referring to Jackie Green. growstuff believes “whether human beings can change sex is a matter of opinion”. This is just another reminder to me to not get involved in these threads, they’re really not good for my blood pressure ?

Chewbacca Fri 29-Jul-22 00:26:04

The Telegraph is publishing an interview tomorrow with a young girl, who went through the whole trans ideology programme @ the Tavistock, and says that it took her to the brink of suicide. She wasn't trans; she was autistic and bisexual, but was funnelled through a system that was so hard to disentangle herself from, that she suffered serious harm physically, mentally and emotionally. It's behind a pay wall but I'll see if I can get access.

I can see a class action lawsuit building up.......

Rosie51 Fri 29-Jul-22 01:17:33

And all those that have championed this ideology will stand back, raise their hands, and say nothing to do with me guv! Just like Stonewall have done with the verdict of aggravated damages against GCC...... not our fault gov that they implemented our faulty guidance they'd paid through the teeth for.....
Look up aggravated damages and then comment.

Rosie51 Fri 29-Jul-22 01:35:35

growstuff

grannydarkhair

*growstuff’ Jackie Green is now pushing 30, and is not a girl, as human beings cannot change sex. S/he is a trans woman (Many GCs prefer the term TIM (trans identified male)). In the video, Jackie says “it’s in my DNA”, no it’s not and never will be, no matter what surgery or drugs s/he undergoes or takes.
But, we’ll never know if Jackie’s feelings would have changed as s/he aged, as s/he was put on puberty blockers at an early age and underwent surgery at 16.

Whether human beings can change sex is a matter of opinion. She prefers to be known as a female and I respect that, even if you don't.

How many people's lives have been improved (maybe even saved) by being able to transition? Do you have any data on that?

I thought your partner was a scientist to whom I've certainly known you reference. Does he really believe that any human can change their DNA so as to change sex? Has he ever discussed this with you? DNA is in every cell of our bodies. To my knowledge thoughts and wishes have never succeeded in changing DNA before, but perhaps you can point us to the peer reviewed studies of where this has happened? Or are we to discount science entirely? If it's so subject to individual interpretation maybe the scientific 'evidence' surrounding Covid is equally as woolly?

FarNorth Fri 29-Jul-22 01:57:11

Yes, just identify as not having covid and everything should be fine .
Wait, didn't Boris Johnson try doing that, while boldly shaking hands all round?

Rosie51 Fri 29-Jul-22 02:01:40

FarNorth

Yes, just identify as not having covid and everything should be fine .
Wait, didn't Boris Johnson try doing that, while boldly shaking hands all round?

I wish I'd known that earlier, just completed almost two weeks of isolation because I was testing positive for Covid. If I'd just identified as Covid free I could have gone out and about knowing I wasn't a risk to anyone. Next time, if I should be unlucky enough to catch it again......

growstuff Fri 29-Jul-22 04:37:49

Rosie51

growstuff

grannydarkhair

*growstuff’ Jackie Green is now pushing 30, and is not a girl, as human beings cannot change sex. S/he is a trans woman (Many GCs prefer the term TIM (trans identified male)). In the video, Jackie says “it’s in my DNA”, no it’s not and never will be, no matter what surgery or drugs s/he undergoes or takes.
But, we’ll never know if Jackie’s feelings would have changed as s/he aged, as s/he was put on puberty blockers at an early age and underwent surgery at 16.

Whether human beings can change sex is a matter of opinion. She prefers to be known as a female and I respect that, even if you don't.

How many people's lives have been improved (maybe even saved) by being able to transition? Do you have any data on that?

I thought your partner was a scientist to whom I've certainly known you reference. Does he really believe that any human can change their DNA so as to change sex? Has he ever discussed this with you? DNA is in every cell of our bodies. To my knowledge thoughts and wishes have never succeeded in changing DNA before, but perhaps you can point us to the peer reviewed studies of where this has happened? Or are we to discount science entirely? If it's so subject to individual interpretation maybe the scientific 'evidence' surrounding Covid is equally as woolly?

Yes, he is a scientist. Do I have to agree with whatever he thinks (which is none of your business)? I actually am allowed my own opinions.

growstuff Fri 29-Jul-22 04:41:52

grannydarkhair

growstuff was referring to Jackie Green. growstuff believes “whether human beings can change sex is a matter of opinion”. This is just another reminder to me to not get involved in these threads, they’re really not good for my blood pressure ?

I usually ignore threads on this topic too, but I was bored. Quite honestly, I don't understand why people get so energised about it. Presumably they're just as concerned about the thousands of children who are abused, have mental health problems, live in poverty, etc. I can't understand why there are fewer threads about the latter.

growstuff Fri 29-Jul-22 04:50:05

Incidentally, did you know that the Y chromosome is undergoing rapid evolutionary deterioration, is a fraction of its past size and there is speculation that it could become superfluous and completely decay?

DiamondLily Fri 29-Jul-22 06:46:11

Common sense breaking out at last.

"In the end it was NHS England that ordered the Tavistock trust to close down its gender identity clinic for children in the wake of a damning review by an eminent paediatrician.

But its far-reaching decision yesterday would never have been taken but for the brave voices of a few individuals who spoke out against the controversial centre.

Patients, parents and even the Tavistock’s own staff turned whistleblower, some putting their careers in jeopardy, to warn that vulnerable children unsure about their gender were being put at risk by being prescribed powerful drugs to stop the onset of puberty.

The first to raise concerns in 2005 was Sue Evans, a nurse at the Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in north London.

She was worried that teenagers were being assessed too quickly and that treatment plans were being influenced by transgender rights groups.

Her fears were not made public at the time, however, and for a number of years few questions were asked about the soaring number of referrals the clinic was receiving, except by concerned parents’ groups led by Stephanie Davies-Arai.

Then in late 2018, a senior member of staff told the trust’s board that children were wrongly being fast-tracked into changing gender and the psychological and social reasons behind their feelings were being dismissed.

group of parents also wrote to the board raising concerns that the GIDS team was being asked to ‘assess complex and difficult cases within a highly constrained time frame’.

A dynamite report by David Bell, then a staff governor, said that patients were being exposed to ‘long-term damage’ because the clinic could not ‘stand up to the pressure’ from ‘highly politicised’ campaigners and families.

He accused the service of providing ‘woefully inadequate care’ and that staff had ‘very serious ethical concerns’ about children making life-changing decisions with inadequate assessment or consent.

Dr Bell was then sent two letters threatening disciplinary action, including vague allegations of bullying.

And although his internal report led to a review by the trust’s medical director, Dinesh Sinha, early in 2019, which admitted staff caseloads were ‘excessive’ and there was lobbying from pressure groups, it concluded that the service was safe.

Then consultant psychotherapist Marcus Evans – whose wife Sue had first raised concerns years earlier – resigned in protest at the Tavistock’s response to doctors who raised the alarm.

He accused the trust of creating a ‘climate of fear’ and trying to ‘dismiss or undermine’ concerns, while 25 other clinicians signed a letter complaining about the attitude of managers.

The expert said there was no way to know whether these drugs, rather than ‘buying time’ for children to decide on their gender identity, might instead ‘disrupt that decision-making process’.

She raised concerns that the drugs could interrupt the process of the brain maturing, affecting children’s ability to exercise judgment."

I was told by former nurse Susan Evans: ‘Children with gender identity problems expect hormone blockers [drugs to stall puberty] to be handed out quickly.

‘They think these drugs will solve all their concerns: such as how they look, a lack of friends, physical changes and typical teenage angst.’

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11059641/Courage-parents-patients-whistleblowers-revealed-Tavistock-childrens-clinic-SHUT.html

Galaxy Fri 29-Jul-22 08:04:46

I have 30 years in childrens services so I am very interested in when organisations and adults fail children. Particularly those with additional needs. Hope that's a good enough justification.
The data on who has been helped is not adequate that's the point.

growstuff Fri 29-Jul-22 08:06:58

Galaxy

I have 30 years in childrens services so I am very interested in when organisations and adults fail children. Particularly those with additional needs. Hope that's a good enough justification.
The data on who has been helped is not adequate that's the point.

That's a fair point, but is a separate issue from the one some people are trying to make.

Galaxy Fri 29-Jul-22 08:10:06

I am utterly grateful that the whistleblowers and women showed an interest in what they was going on at the tavistock. They were very brave and children with gender dysphoria and those who were experiencing other issues are safer because of them.

growstuff Fri 29-Jul-22 08:18:23

Galaxy

I am utterly grateful that the whistleblowers and women showed an interest in what they was going on at the tavistock. They were very brave and children with gender dysphoria and those who were experiencing other issues are safer because of them.

Presumably they can now be treated at a safer clinic.

Allsorts Fri 29-Jul-22 08:51:46

Thank goodness it’s closed, however what is to happen to all those vulnerable youngsters who have had their lives wrecked? I know it might have helped some but was it worth it for those it broke?

Doodledog Fri 29-Jul-22 09:09:39

growstuff

grannydarkhair

growstuff was referring to Jackie Green. growstuff believes “whether human beings can change sex is a matter of opinion”. This is just another reminder to me to not get involved in these threads, they’re really not good for my blood pressure ?

I usually ignore threads on this topic too, but I was bored. Quite honestly, I don't understand why people get so energised about it. Presumably they're just as concerned about the thousands of children who are abused, have mental health problems, live in poverty, etc. I can't understand why there are fewer threads about the latter.

People get 'energised' because they feel that the trans agenda is dangerous on a number of levels, and others feel that transwomen are women. There are numerous threads on the topic which will show you in what ways and for what reasons people hold the point of view they do, so you could read through them to help you understand if you're still bored. It's a bit of a no-win situation, though. If anyone could be bothered to go through those reasons for the benefit of someone who usually ignores the topics, they would be accused of being 'exercised', and repeating themselves.
What do do, eh? You can't please everyone.

I don't feel that not starting threads about a topic means that someone is unconcerned about it - or that someone being interested in one topic means that they can't also be concerned about another. As a rule, something has to happen before a thread is started though. The thread about child abuse which is live just now, ('Another child dies at the hands of a mother') is going strong - something has happened that can be discussed - and when things happen people do start threads (as, of course, could you). Similarly, 'a thread saying 'Thousands of children have MH problems' is likely to stall fairly quickly without some sort of context. If there is a change in the provision of children's MH, however, the odds are that someone will pick up on it if the issue concerns them.

Speaking of things to be concerned about, incidentally, the Y chromosome appears to have about 4.5 million years before it is seriously endangered. I for one won't be putting it at the top of my list of things that keep me awake at night.

Chewbacca Fri 29-Jul-22 09:14:36

Presumably they can now be treated at a safer clinic.

Well, that's the crux of it isn't it? The Tavistock wasn't safe in any regard hence why the closure is so swift. Cass must have seen some pretty horrendous instances of clinical and psychological damage to have declared it not a safe or viable long-term option.

Galaxy Fri 29-Jul-22 09:17:42

It's not just the tavistock the report contains information on puberty blockers. It will I think change the whole approach to care.

Prentice Fri 29-Jul-22 09:45:18

DiamondLily your post on this matter brings it home how very wrong things became at the Tavistock Clinic, it is a scandal actually.
We all know that teenagers can go through a difficult time and may think they should be a different gender, which may alter with a little time.Other factors such as perhaps really being gay or being autistic and confused about sex play a part too as the reporting suggests.
Men and women have always had a wide range of feelings and behaviours in any case, the softly spoken mild mannered man and the aggressive ready to shout man are both just as much men.

GagaJo Fri 29-Jul-22 09:51:41

growstuff

grannydarkhair

growstuff was referring to Jackie Green. growstuff believes “whether human beings can change sex is a matter of opinion”. This is just another reminder to me to not get involved in these threads, they’re really not good for my blood pressure ?

I usually ignore threads on this topic too, but I was bored. Quite honestly, I don't understand why people get so energised about it. Presumably they're just as concerned about the thousands of children who are abused, have mental health problems, live in poverty, etc. I can't understand why there are fewer threads about the latter.

Exactly. It's a mirror of the US right-wing. It's not really about care for the vulnerable, it's just enforcement of the status quo. The social shift towards gender fluidity is threatening to the binary system we live in therefore close-up on the control of gender issues, while ignoring poverty, the mental health tsunami, child abuse.

It's an obsession. In the same way Trumpers were/are obsessed with Mexicans immigrating into the US, with control of people of colour, with abortion, while ignoring children in poverty and their own colonisation of other parts of the world.

Doodledog Fri 29-Jul-22 09:56:43

I think that when the Tavistock opened 'transitioning' children was a rare occurrence, and it has become more widespread since. As a result there are more people now with experience and expertise in the issues, so it is going to be easier to have a multidisciplinary approach.

If children are now going to be referred to clinics where fewer of them are given irreversible treatments before the age of consent, I can't help but thing that this is all to the good. If they are not considered old enough to make decisions about less important things, it seems wrong that they can make them on this topic. I'm not sure how this is going to work if the more 'trigger-happy' staff from the Tavistock are re-employed in the 'safer clinics', though.

It must be incredibly difficult for parents if a young child wants to 'change gender'. It's not something I've experienced, but I would want to do the right thing for the child, and would really have no idea what that would be, and would need the advice of experts to help me to help my child. I'm sure I would be happier if the experts I was referred to didn't have the reputation of the Tavistock ones, though.

Doodledog Fri 29-Jul-22 10:01:29

Exactly. It's a mirror of the US right-wing. It's not really about care for the vulnerable, it's just enforcement of the status quo. The social shift towards gender fluidity is threatening to the binary system we live in therefore close-up on the control of gender issues, while ignoring poverty, the mental health tsunami, child abuse. It's an obsession. In the same way Trumpers were/are obsessed with Mexicans immigrating into the US, with control of people of colour, with abortion, while ignoring children in poverty and their own colonisation of other parts of the world.

What rubbish. By that 'logic' it follows that because your post concentrated on poverty, MH, child abuse and colonisation you don't care about cancer or climate change. How is posting on Gransnet an 'obsession'? And what makes you any less obsessed?

GagaJo Fri 29-Jul-22 10:06:31

I've had an interest for many years, based on personal experience in a couple of voluntary women's group which at times had trans women as members. I wouldn't say I have an obsession.

I think a few things (as have been discussed to death on other threads) but the one being discussed here is the obsession of those with maintaining gender norms.

DiamondLily Fri 29-Jul-22 10:08:43

Good idea.

"The NHS could be banned from giving puberty blockers to children amid concerns that youngsters are being “rushed” into changing their gender.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak pledged to consider restricting the use of puberty blockers on Thursday night over concerns that “life-altering treatments” are being given to children before they are old enough to know whether they want to medically transition.

The Tory leadership contenders told The Telegraph they would act following the announcement that the NHS was shutting down the Tavistock transgender clinic after the Cass Review found it was “not safe” for children.

NHS England will instead move young people into regional centres that will take a more “holistic” approach to treatment and look at whether other mental health conditions could explain their gender dysphoria.

It also committed to begin urgent research on the impact of puberty blockers after Dr Hilary Cass warned in her report that the drugs could prompt the “rewiring of neural circuits” and affect parts of the brain responsible for decision-making and judgment.

Everyone who receives the drugs will now be placed on a trial, with data on the effects collected."

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/28/nhs-faces-crackdown-giving-puberty-blockers-children-tavistock/

Glorianny Fri 29-Jul-22 10:09:27

As you celebrate over this closure consider the present position for those children needing gender advice and treatment

Recent waiting list figures:
Number of people on our waiting list: 11,293
Number of referrals received in the month: 329
Number of first appointments offered in the month: 56
Total appointments offered in the month: 917
We are currently offering first appointment to people who were referred in: January 2018
The data above is for April 2022.

In other words children are waiting 4 years for a first appointment. During that time they may access drugs on the net or share drugs with a friend
You are effectively celebrating children being failed in every aspect of their care.
If you want to read the figures gic.nhs.uk/appointments/waiting-times/