Editorial: The Guardian

• Hilary Cass's report, a distinguished paediatrician, has reviewed NHS gender identity services directed at children and young people.
• It reveals how a vulnerable group has been 'exceptionalised' by the NHS, deprived of the evidence-based healthcare all patients should expect.
• The gender identity development service (Gids) has been shut down due to severe criticism of subjecting many children to feelings of self-hatred and self-denial.
• Many children were put on an irreversible path, a fact that Cass deems completely unacceptable and unjust.
• Cass's report proposes a new model of care in which children and teens questioning their gender identity are treated holistically and compassionately.
• Cass observes that instead of helping children to process the fact that they are gay, gender medicine might be fostering the belief they were born in the wrong body.
• The report contradicts the information that some patients have been given by clinicians and campaigners.

Conclusion: The priority for the NHS should be to deliver the quality of care that children deserve but have been denied by Gids. In addition, there must be accountability for the managers and clinicians responsible for such unethical practice.

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