Article in The Guardian tweeted by Biology in Medicine on TwiX (https://x.com/biologyinmed/status/1943616841152114706)
https://archive.ph/lfWGI
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/02/cass-review-how-has-report-affected-care-for-transgender-young-people
Review led to profound changes, some of which made young people feel unsupported, yet new clinics are opening
'The Cass effect
Fourteen months later and the exponential rise in referrals for NHS care has halted, with figures showing a sharp reduction from up to 280 referrals a month at the Tavistock to between 20 and 30 a month this year, a 10th of the earlier rate.
James Palmer, the medical director for specialised services at NHS England, who is responsible for implementing the recommendations of Cass, suggests a number of factors are behind the decrease. Young people can now only be referred for the youth gender service through mental health or paediatric specialists, rather than by a GP.
Palmer also believes the reduction is partly because of the “change in philosophy” brought in by Cass about hormone treatments. Her review concluded there was “remarkably weak evidence” that puberty blockers(prescribed to give young people experiencing distress and dysphoria about their bodies time to consider their next move) and cross-sex hormones (which masculinise or feminise people’s appearances) improve young people’s wellbeing and there was concern they may harm health.'