Thanks R0.
Harry tweets:
Marcus Evans, formerly of Tavistock, speaking about grave ethical concerns re the fast-tracking of children to transitioning. He speaks of subtle and unsubtle attempts by trustees to undermine Dr Bell’s review.
Dr Bell states that when ‘gender’ is within a mix of multiple pathologies, the tendency is to focus on the ‘gender’ aspect, at the expense of all other possible factors. This is because ‘gender identity’ is promoted as an easy fix.
Observer article on Evans' resignation:
www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/child-transgender-service-governor-quits-chaos
"The service has been struggling to contain the fallout from an internal report by Dr David Bell, written in his capacity as then staff governor, which warned that “the GIDS service as it now functions [is] not fit for purpose and children’s ends are being met in a woeful, inadequate manner and some will live on with the damaging consequences”.
In his report, which was submitted to the trust’s board earlier this month and whose findings were first reported in the Observer last year, Bell expressed concern that the service was failing to fully consider psychological and social factors in a young person’s background – such as whether they had been abused, suffered a bereavement or had autism – which might influence their decision to transition. Such views are dismissed by many transgender rights activists who believe they play little, if any, part in a person’s desire to transition.
According to the trust, a review of Bell’s claims by its medical director, Dr Dinesh Sinha, “did not identify any immediate issues in relation to patient safety or failings in the overall approach taken by the service in responding to the needs of young people and families who access its support. As in any review of this nature, it did identify areas for improvement and made several recommendations. The trust’s chief executive is tasked with developing an action plan for how these will be implemented.”
The trust’s 15 governors, who hold its board to account, last week gave their support for it to act on the recommendations. But Evans, a psychoanalyst, subsequently resigned.
“In my 40 years of experience in psychiatry, I have learned that dismissing serious concerns about a service or approach is often driven by a defensive wish to prevent painful examination of an ‘overvalued system’,” he complained in his resignation email.
He added: “I do not believe we understand what is going on in this complex area and the need to adopt an attitude which examines things from different points of view is essential. This is difficult in the current environment as the debate and discussion required is continually being closed down or effectively described as ‘transphobic’ or in some way prejudicial.”