I have NCed for this as has some potentially outing details.
I recently saw Dr Cass speak at the annual conference for the Royal College of Child Heald and Paediatrics. She was a wonderful speaker, very measured, but entirely unwavering in her findings, which she made clear had not been easy. She pointed out that in no other branch of paediatric medicine would it be possible, never mind acceptable to give very vulnerable distressed kids life altering treatments with no long term follow up. I got the distinct impression that she was no fan of Polly Carmichael.
As the mum to a gender non conforming autistic girl, I feel so much more comfortable that if she becomes distressed by things gender, there will be a more cautious approach from the school and the NHS. I personally hugely relieved, and so thankful for the thousands of kids this review will hopefully provide a route to better support and save from irreversible harm.
One thing to note here, Dr Cass is a paediatrician. Many of those involved in GIDS etc are not, they are psychiatrists or psychologists or endocrinologists. Putting an eminent paediatrician in charge of the review was so important. They are trained to think not just about the illness, but the child as a whole. Where they are in development, how they are likely to change over the course of being treated, what else is going on in their lives. This was so evident at the conference and in Dr Cass's speech. There was a deep understanding of children and the challenges specific to treating children. In other hands this review could have been very different.
So, thank you Dr Cass, and whoever appointed you. Thank you for saying yes. Thank you for staying the course. Thank you for doing the right thing, even when that must have been tremendously difficult. I hope you get some rest now. It must have been so hard.