NHS to close Tavistock gender identity clinic for children

The contract for the gender identity service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust will be brought to a close, the NHS said. Photograph: Jeffrey Blackler/Alamy

The NHS is shutting down its gender identity clinic for children at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust after it was criticised in an independent review.

Regional centres would be set up to replace the service and “ensure the holistic needs” of patients are fully met, NHS England said, after being warned that only having one provider was “not a safe or viable long-term option”.