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The service did not record how many patients had a diagnosis, or suspected diagnosis, of an autistic spectrum disorder. We reviewed a sample of 22 records, more than half of which referred to autistic spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Discussions with staff about autistic spectrum disorders focused on the communication needs of these patients. Records did not demonstrate consideration of the relationship between autistic spectrum disorder and gender dysphoria.
Poor practice and inadequate services
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That’s despite the fact that in a report to the Tavistock board in 2018, David Bell raised concerns about the high percentage of the GIDS caseload with autism. And he’s far from the only person to raise this issue. Yet even during an inspection carried out in October 2020, the GIDS was not addressing the questions that report raised.
Elsewhere, the CQC highlights the longstanding and unexplained skew in the GIDS caseload towards girls. It also raises some questions about the ethnicity of that caseload, questions which bear much more investigation.
An official investigation has now shown the sort of poor practice and inadequate services that can persist when criticism and questions around gender treatment for children are ignored. The warnings and the whistleblowers were ignored for too long. Now that’s been proven to be a harmful mistake, we can only hope that questions and concerns about issues such as the relationship between gender and autism will finally be properly addressed.
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