Assessment, Management and Outcomes for Children and Young People referred to the National Gender Identity Development Service

Some children and young people experience significant levels of distress in their course of their development due to a persistent mismatch between their gender identity and their registered sex. The numbers of people referred to the Tavistock and Portman’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) - the only NHS funded service for young people with gender related distress in England and Wales - have risen markedly over the last decade, resulting in lengthy waiting times and uncertainty for young people and their families. There is currently limited evidence on the outcomes for people who have accessed GIDS, some of whom are now adults.

The University of York has therefore been commissioned by NHS England to conduct research into this issue, as an independent and established research institution.

In this study we plan to use existing data collected by the NHS - including data from GIDS, hospital wards, outpatient clinics, emergency departments and adult gender identity clinics - to assess the outcomes for children and young people who were referred to the GIDS service between 2009 and 2021. We will look at changing features of these children - including age at referral and co-occurrence of other conditions such as autism and mental health difficulties - and assess if some groups of children are more likely to follow a medical approach to managing their gender related distress. We will also explore patterns of longer-term physical and mental health outcomes. In developing the study, we spoke to trans and gender questioning adolescents and young adults, and the parents of children and young people who have been seen, or are waiting to be seen, at GIDS. We will continue to engage with users of gender identity services as the study progresses.

It is important that we study the experiences of as many children and young people as possible to ensure we can produce the best possible evidence on the outcomes of care. We understand the sensitivity of the data used in this study and have taken steps to limit who can see this information and to ensure that those who can are subject to strict confidentiality requirements. However, you do not have to allow your data to be used in this study if you do not want to. If you attended GIDS and you do not want your records to be included in this research you can opt out by contacting GIDS or your Adult Gender Identity Clinic.

More information on how to opt out of the study can be found here.

Benefits of the study

Understanding more about what support people who attended GIDS received and whether this helped them will provide young people, carers and service providers with vital evidence on the best care in future.

More information:

An infographic explaining the study can be found here, an animated overview here and the study protocol.

If you have attended GIDS, detailed patient information on the study can be found in the GIDS Patient Information Sheet (PDF , 185kb).

If you attend an Adult Gender Identity Clinic but have not attended GIDS, your data will not be included in the study.

You can find more information on the study and how your data will be treated in the Adult Patient Information Sheet (PDF , 185kb)

The research team at the University of York can be contacted at cass-review@york.ac.uk