Cass Review

The Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People (commonly, the Cass Review) was commissioned in 2020 by NHS England and NHS Improvement and led by Hilary Cass, a retired consultant paediatrician and the former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. It dealt with gender services for children and young people, including transgender youth and those with gender dysphoria in England.

The final report was published on 10 April 2024, and it was endorsed by both the Conservative and Labour parties though LGBT+ Labour criticised it. The Green Party initially supported the review, but ceased following condemnation from LGBTQ members. LGBTQ advocacy groups in the UK and internationally have criticised the review.

The review's recommendations were largely welcomed by UK medical organisations, though some noted criticisms of the review and called for their consideration. The British Medical Association called to publicly critique the review and later initiated an independent review of it. The British Association of Gender Identity Specialist and UK's Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors and Dentists criticised the review. Medical organisations outside the UK, international medical organisations, and other countries' clinical practice guidelines have criticised its methodology, findings, and recommendations. Following high profile media coverage, Cass expressed concern that misinformation about the review had spread online and elsewhere.

The review led to a UK ban on prescribing puberty blockers to those under 18 experiencing gender dysphoria (with the exception of existing patients or those in a clinical trial). The Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust was closed in March 2024 and replaced in April with two new services, which are intended to be the first of eight regional centres. In August, the pathway by which patients are referred to gender clinics was revised and a review of adult services commissioned. In September, the Scottish government accepted the findings of a multidisciplinary team that NHS Scotland had set up to consider how the Cass Review's recommendations could best apply there. In England a delayed clinical trial into puberty blockers is planned for 2025.