Gender Identity Development Service

The Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) was a nationally operated health clinic in the United Kingdom that specialised in working with transgender and gender diverse youth, including those with gender dysphoria. Launched in 1989, GIDS was commissioned by NHS England and took referrals from across the UK, although it was operated at a Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust site. GIDS was the only gender identity clinic for people under 18 in England and Wales and was the subject of much controversy.

In the late 2010s, the GIDS became controversial because of growing public attention on trans issues and concerns about the service, including a huge increase in patients and a lack of longitudinal evidence to support the treatments it gave. Some of its most prominent critics were gender-critical psychotherapists and psychoanalysts who argued against gender-affirming care for minors altogether.

By 2020, a large increase in referrals led to waiting lists in excess of two years. Between 2020 and 2021, GIDS stopped offering hormonal treatments to youth following the judgement in Bell v Tavistock, until the decision was overturned on appeal. In July 2022, the NHS decided to close GIDS and replace it with regional healthcare centres, following the release of the interim report of the Cass Review, in order to reduce waiting lists and provide better quality care to young people. The service closed in March 2024.