New gender clinic for kids launched by ex-Tavistock psychologist

A new gender clinic for children has been launched by a former NHS psychologist who allegedly agreed a teenage girl should be prescribed puberty blockers because she liked Thomas The Tank Engine.

The private service, which charges £1,500 to assess under-18s for gender dysphoria, has been set up by Dr Heather Wood, who for years worked at the scandal-hit Tavistock gender identity clinic.

The London centre was shut down in March after a damning review declared it ‘unsafe’ over its use of puberty-blocking drugs on vulnerable young people. 

The NHS also banned prescribing the powerful drugs to children.

Dr Wood’s new clinic does not currently offer such prescriptions, but its website says it is in discussions to do so with independent providers.

A new gender clinic for children has been launched by former NHS psychologist Dr Heather Wood, who allegedly agreed a teenage girl should be prescribed puberty blockers because she liked Thomas The Tank Engine

The Tavistock gender identity clinic in London was shut down in March after a damning review declared it ‘unsafe’ over its use of puberty-blocking drugs on vulnerable young people

Dr Wood is understood to have received a large taxpayer-funded payout when the Tavistock closed, and opened Dignity Gender Assessment Services in Leeds a few weeks ago.

Previously a whistleblower at the Tavistock claimed Dr Wood had recommended giving a teenage girl puberty blockers after they said they had liked a Thomas The Tank Engine train in early childhood. 

The whistleblower claimed Dr Wood had called her ‘transphobic’ when she raised concerns.

Former Tavistock patients given the drugs have sued the NHS after saying they later changed their mind about transitioning.

Dr Wood’s new clinic is being operated alongside another pyschologist Dr Adele McGovern who previously worked at a sister clinic to the Tavistock gender clinic in Leeds.

It does not currently offer prescriptions for puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, but the website states that ‘we’re discussing use of our reports with independent endocrine providers’.

A government review into the Tavistock by Dr Hilary Cass found puberty blocking drugs posed a danger to children and that young people had little ‘time to think’ before changing gender

Last night, lawyer Paul Conrathe, who has represented former Tavistock patients, said: ‘The NHS has instituted significant changes that protect vulnerable children and young people from an experimental treatment that has irreversible life-long consequences.

‘Those safeguards and protections do not exist in the private sector. This two-tier system exposes vulnerable young people to a significant risk of lifelong harm.’

Other ex-Tavistock staff to have set up private clinics include psychologist Aidan Kelly who runs up Gender Plus. 

The clinic in London lists six other ex-Tavistock employees on its website.

A spokesman for Bayswater Support Group, which represents parents of transgender children and advocates for evidence-based care, said: ‘If clinicians are still employing practices discredited by the Cass Review, it underlines the need to have robust legislation preventing both the NHS and private sector from exploiting the vulnerable.’

Dr Wood was approached for comment.