https://www.bbc.com/news/education-55369784
'The NHS gender identity service is seeking leave to appeal against a High Court ruling that restricts children under 16 from accessing "puberty-blocking" drugs.
The NHS service says the move harms young people with gender dysphoria. Doctors and parents have told the BBC the ruling could put already vulnerable trans teens at risk. And trans young people have been giving their reaction, with one calling the ruling "honestly terrifying". [...]
A clinician who currently works within the NHS GIDS, told the BBC her patients are now being left alone to deal with distress.
"The young trans people I'm talking to now are experiencing deeply distressing mental health problems," she says. [...] The clinician wanted to remain anonymous, because of the backlash that could come as a result of her speaking out. She says: "I know of several young people who have tried to take their lives, some successfully, and that was before these legal challenges which will only slow down and block our services even more." [...]
Dr Adrian Harrop, a GP from Liverpool who has defended the right of children to begin transitioning, says trans young people have now had "the rug pulled from underneath them".
"It makes me terribly worried that there is now nothing there for those children, and nothing that can be done to help them.
"Parents are being left at a point where they're having to struggle to cope with these children who are in a real state of distress and anxiety. Sadly, there is a very real risk of seeing more suicides," he adds.
In a letter seen exclusively by the BBC, GenderGP - one of the only private healthcare providers for transgender people in the UK - calls on NHS England's Medical Director for Specialist Services, James Palmer, to take urgent action.
The letter asks him to provide "interim solutions to prevent harm". It adds: "The mental health implications of this cannot be underestimated, and the risk of self-harm and suicide must be acknowledged."'