Last modified on Tue 19 Jan 2021 23.37 EST
An NHS trust has been allowed to appeal against a high court decision that barred it from referring under-16s for puberty-blocking treatment.
The court ruled that children considering gender reassignment were unlikely to be able to give informed consent. Now the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust, which runs the UK’s main gender identity development service for children, has been granted permission to appeal, alongside University College Hospitals NHS foundation trust and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Tavistock, which leads the national Gender Identity and Development Service (Gids), said it welcomed the court’s decision. “Our priority is to work together with our partners to support our patients and their families while legal proceedings are ongoing,” the spokesperson said.