Dozens of children put at risk after gender care failures at GP clinic, inquiry finds

Dozens of children put at risk after gender care failures at GP clinic, inquiry findsJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAlison Holt,Social affairs editorandJim Reed,Health reporterBBCDozens of children questioning their gender, including some under 13 years old, were inappropriately prescribed medication by a Brighton GP practice, an NHS safety investigation has found.A year-long inquiry into the WellBN clinic found that 78 young patients were potentially harmed after puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones were prescribed without proper checks.More than 20 children were given medication without a face-to-face appointment between February 2023 and December 2025.In a website statement, WellBN said it recognised "the seriousness and sensitivity of the matters raised" and that its priority remained providing "compassionate, safe and effective care for all patients".NHS England has told the clinic it must stop offering new prescriptions to children, and said a number of current and former clinicians had been referred to medical regulators.One of the doctors identified in the report has been suspended from working as an NHS GP while further investigations are ongoing.Dr Christopher Tibbs, regional medical director for NHS England, said that young people were put at a high risk of harm because clinicians provided "specialist diagnosis, care and treatment that they were neither qualified, nor commissioned to deliver"."Under no circumstances should this have happened," he added. Trans health hubIn 2020, WellBN opened a transgender health hub in Brighton and, by last year, around 2,000 patients of all ages had registered, many from outside the city.The service was set up in part because patients were facing extremely long waits to be seen by one of the three specialist gender services that now operate in England.The investigation, run by five independent clinicians appointed by NHS Sussex, began in June 2025 after several...