A Hove GP is using a loophole in NHS rules to give children cross-sex hormones after just a ten-minute appointment, a book claims.
Journalist Hannah Barnes has won multiple awards for her book Time to Think, which revealed the NHS was prescribing puberty blockers to children sometimes after minimal assessment and without effectively monitoring their long-term effects.
The book, billed as the “inside story of the collapse of the Tavistock’s gender service for children [GIDS]” is coming out in paperback tomorrow.
In a newly published epilogue, a Brighton parent has outlined her concerns over her severely autistic daughter – given the pseudonym Charlotte – being prescribed testosterone by WellBN after a single appointment with GP Dr Sam Hall.
And it says the mother has spoken to at least ten other families whose children have been prescribed hormones at 16 by Dr Hall – some of whom are grateful, but others of whom are more cautious.
The book says: “How could Charlotte and other 16-year-olds have been prescribed cross-sex hormones, on the NHS, without any kind of specialist gender assessment, and without having previously been administrered puberty blockers for a year beforehand?
“Even people under the care of GIDS cannot receive hormones at 16 without having been on puberty blockers for a year beforehand.”
The book quotes the child’s mother – referred to as Elaine – saying she was given them as a “bridging prescription” following a referral to GIDS, even though at the time of her referral by WellBN, it was known they were not taking on new patients.
Elaine says: “Dr Hall makes the decision that the harm of the length of the waiting list outweighs the harm caused by prescribing cross sex hormones.”
Ms Barnes says while bridging prescriptions for cross-sex hormones are permitted under General Medical Council guidance, the guidance specifically says it refers to adults only.
She says WellBN told her it was operating under guidance issued by NHS Sussex, which commissions its services – but Ms Barnes says that guidance is largely about treating adult trans patients, and states it is not designed to start hormone treatments in general practice.
She writes: “No doubt Hall truly cares for his patients. Waiting times for gender clinics – for bothyoung people and adults – are amny years, and he sees bridging prescriptions as a way to relieve distress and improve the lives of trans people.
“He has described his own experience of starting hormones as ‘sublime’ … There does, however, seem to be a difference between Hall’s own successful transition in established adulthood, after starting a family, and the provision of hormones to potentially vulnerable teenagers.”
Lindsay Coleman, lead partner at WellBN, said: “This link on our website here clearly explains the ethical principles we abide by (we would in particular draw your attention to the GMC letter from 2016).
“We can’t discuss an individual patient’s care without consent, but if any parents of the patients being anonymously referenced in the book wishes to contact the practice, they are most welcome to do so, as we encourage all of our patients to do.
“GPs can appropriately provide prescriptions as a legitimate treatment plan when people are waiting for onward care. The referrals to adult and children’s GI services are carried out according to instructions given to us by NHS England, following an inspection in 2021. The statement on our website explains the clinical guidance we follow.
“All CQC inspection reports are in the public domain here, and we are currently rated as “good” across all areas.”
Earlier this month, after the epilogue was written, NHS England published new guidance barring the prescription of puberty blockers to children unless they are taking part in a clinical trial.
Concerns have been raised that the drugs – which stop the onset of puberty for as long as they’re taken – could cause reduced bone density, reduced height, changes in mental health (both positive and negative) and tumour-like masses in the brain. There is little reliable research into possible side effects.
Mat Christian Thomas, an employee of NHS Sussex, tweeted: “As a children’s mental health commissioner who spends every day planning and coordinating for unwell children, I can tell you now the barring of access to puberty blockers is death sentence for some of our trans teens. It is utter cruelty and against everything we in the NHS stand for.”
The tweet was deleted within 24 hours of being posted.
The following week, NHS England made a further announcement that new regional child gender clinics being set up to replace GIDS would be able to prescribe cross-sex hormones from around a patient’s 16th birthday. This does not apply to GP practices.
Cross-sex hormones have been used to successfully treat patients with gender dysphoria. They also cause irreversible side effects, including changes to appearance and sometimes permanent infertility.
Brighton and Hove News asked NHS Sussex about the claims made in Ms Barnes’ book, and if Mr Thomas’s tweet represented the trust’s policy.
A spokesman said: “We’re committed to supporting people who live in Sussex to get the health and care they need.
“We do this by working to nationally set policy and guidance, and with local providers of services, to make sure the care given to people is appropriate for their clinical needs.”
Those are some pretty serious accusations. I would encourage those involved to raise a concern through the proper channels to allow an investigation to take place, so allegations can be substantiated or dismissed as libelous.
Benjamin,
Agreed. Hannah’s book provides the evidence you’re looking for for your points. It’s available on the 4th floor in Waterstones in town, only a few copies available so it’s selling fast.
I’d add that naming individuals in national (Sunday Times) and local newspapers requires a lot of lawyers and legal scrutiny to achieve. As has happened here. It’s a consequence of the continuous failure of the proper channels to function, as a quick checkpoint compare Hannah’s book content with Bella Sankey’s summary of local parents’ evidence as “baseless smears” to get an insight on what’s been happening in plain sight. In our city. Today.
Anyone who’s working on the payroll of BHCC or Sussex HNS now has formal, undeniable notice that this is now a legal conversation, that any safeguarding decisions within a professional and/or loco parentis domain that favour an ideology over safeguarding are being noted for a future conversation.
Thank you to all the local parents, professionals and politicians that have been working to move this scandal into the public domain in Brighton, you know who you are.
Any parent who has concerns on this topic in a BHCC primary school, please ask and expect immediate and unhindered answers from your head teacher on exactly what Allsorts are teaching to your children and when. Contrast what you get with Hanna’s book and think carefully if your child should be exposed to this and what options you have to exclude Allsorts if you decide that’s necessary.
Any voters look up the record of your local politician on this topic, and any new candidates. Hannah’s book provides a great basis to inquire and research who’s saying what locally. It’s quite a journey.
Well said. It’s good that B&H News are covering this story
The access provided to gender affirming healthcare for my trans 16 year old has so far been transformative. I am so grateful to Dr Hall for treating him. My child would barely leave his room or bed on bad days, the gender dysphoria has been so crippling. I’ve been paying privately for various forms of psychological support since he was 11. The wait for treatment is neverending and imo a crime against trans young people that need help and support. This witch hunt is a disgrace and all part of a broader attack in society at present against trans people and the so-called “culture war”. My child is not a pawn in a political game of chess. He is a human being that needs access to healthcare. We have received a letter from the NHS stating that since the closure of the previous GIDS clinic for young people, the standard of care has been inadequate. The letter is an apology from the NHS. Dr Hall is trying to do something to fill that void. Talking of culture wars – there isn’t an election approaching is there?
I’m genuinely sorry to hear how much your child has struggled. No parent wants to see their child in distress, and I completely understand the urge to do something when help feels out of reach. But what we do matters. Medical interventions, especially for teenagers, must be evidence-based, cautious, and safe — not simply driven by desperation or political pressure.
You’re right that GIDS was closed — but not because trans youth were being “denied” care. It was closed because the Cass Review found that the service was unsafe. It lacked consistent clinical decision-making, failed to provide holistic mental health support, and placed ideological affirmation above evidence. The NHS apology is for a failure to provide rigorous, exploratory, well-managed care, not for failing to medicate children fast enough.
What Dr Hall is doing is not “filling a void” — it’s bypassing the safeguards that were put in place for a reason. Cross-sex hormones cause irreversible changes: infertility, altered brain development, permanent physical traits. This is not neutral “healthcare”. It is serious medical intervention with lifelong consequences. A teenager in distress needs support, not a prescription pad.
To say this is just part of a “culture war” is to silence people raising valid safeguarding concerns. It’s not about transphobia or politics — it’s about protecting vulnerable young people from well-meaning but dangerous shortcuts. You say your son is not a political pawn — and I agree. But that means not reducing the entire debate to slogans like “affirming is care” while ignoring the growing international consensus that we must slow down and do better.
The real disgrace is that vulnerable children have been let down by services on both sides: either denied support altogether, or fast-tracked into medicalisation without adequate long-term evidence. We can and must do better than both.
These are the disturbing cases here in B&H, some of which I became personally aware of, that led to me raising concerns at the Full Council meeting in July. Cllr Sankey dismissed these parental concerns “baseless smears”.
I was at that meeting. Waiting to present my question to the Council.
I remember the ‘baseless smears’.
How Bella Sankey brought up the Rascist Card! As she read from the ludicrous Script!
There was approx 13 of us that day, waiting to present our questions.
After Adrian’s presentation,all other questions were cancelled.
Disgraceful example of our Totalitarian Council.
Despite having presented our questions in advance for approval. And with the promise of a written response. Which I, as I’m sure the others are, still eagerly waiting for a reply.
The things that are going on today are Criminal.
That’s not quite what happened though, is it Helen?
OK boomer.
It’s 0.01% of the population, mind your own business.
It’s 100% of the child and family population in Brighton, and it’s very much their business
This is so shocking – I’m sure that the various NHS personnel have been very careful to stick to the letter of the law and the letter of NHS protocols and regulations, but presumably those were all drawn up without the possibility of this kind of unethical behaviour crossing people’s minds.
Hannah Barnes’ work is famously well-researched and meticulously accurate – I look forward to reading the full version when the new edition of the book is released tomorrow.
This is absolutely scandalous, working on the American model where kids are sent to the gender abattoirs with any number of co-morbidities / history of trauma, after a single session. Gender-affirming ‘care’, really. Autistic children consenting to becoming lifelong medical patients? Gillick competence anyone? This flies in the face of Cass’s findings. Outrageous.
Even Gillick was furious at her name being taken in vain. Allegedly she never consented to the term ‘Gillick competence’ being invented and bandied about. She only ever fought for the right of girls to be able to access the pill if they needed to. Changing gender for the underage is not what she had in mind.
You’re speaking about the Fraser guidelines that apply specifically to advice and treatment about contraception and sexual health. Gillick competency is about a young person being able to give medical consent without their guardian’s knowledge or consent.
In less than a decade there will be so many court cases being brought against the NHS by autistic gay adults who were prescribed life-changing drugs with terrible long-term effects like permanently deep voices and male pattern baldness and given double mastectomies when they were still teenagers. People in the future will be tripping over themselves to deny they ever compelled others to use pronouns in the workplace or to cheerlead vulnerable young people to medical transition. Schools and colleges in Brighton, following enforced workshops by trans activists Allsorts are encouraging this medical scandal. Any doctor on a personal crusade to ‘save’ troubled teenagers who is prepared to disregard all existing mental health issues and fast-track a child onto a new and dangerous life path, purely because it worked for that particular activist GP, should be struck off. Doctors take the Hippocratic oath ‘First, do no harm’ for a reason. How many more Keira Bells will it take before the NHS wakes up?
I am waiting to see how much Brighton Council taxpayers are on the line for this. The school have been teaching things like there are 100 genders from the age of 6 onwards in Brighton Primary schools.
I wasn’t allowed go transition young and was forced to develope a deep voice and other male secondary sexual characteristics which now mean as I transition as an adult terfs call me a bearded man in a dress….wheres my class action law suit?
I absolutely hear you!
This is all about a hetero-normative majority that doesn’t understand trans issues attacking a minority. The Tories are using immigrants and trans people to try and fight their election campaign.
Good luck getting any surgery!
Autistic people are allowed to make their own medical decisions. Cope and seethe more, and stop trying to take away our rights to our bodies.
Yes, as long as they can make informed decisions and communicate those in a way that is appropriate to them. Consent is a very deep topic for the medical field, lest you risk medical paternalism.
PIE used this argument. Keeping children as children into adulthood, only trust your found family and isolate them from their families. Can you see what it is yet?
WellBN has saved hundreds of lives. By removing these principles on hormones from young people you’re also putting access to contraception, abortion, hormone use for sex related conditions, all at risk of removal too. When will you see you are all shooting yourselves in the foot.
That makes no sense. Other GP surgeries manage to provide adult hormone treatments without confusing them with puberty blockers and inappropriate interventions on children without their parent’s knowledge and consent.
Rubbish. A 4000% increase on young girls being “trans” needs proper research and therapy. Not instant infertility and surgery. Its abuse.
Anyone who thinks that clinical gender transitioning is harmless has never had an intimate relationship with a trans person. They don’t advertise the issues or they would be undateable but there are some serious problems with these franken-parts let me tell you. You will only find out in a serious relationship. Listen to some of the detransitioners on YouTube. They are saying exactly what I found with my trans partners so I know it’s not just a few unlucky ones. This gender pathway messes you up. Just stick to cross dressing.
Do you actually have any evidence for these assertions? I am almost 40, abortion has been legal in the UK since well before I was born, contraception has been available for free on the NHS since well before I ever had any need for it, and yet this demand for puberty blockers, cross sex hormones and elective surgery is a recent phenomenon. Abortions and contraception are also proven to be safe. It seems to me that you are conflating completely separate issues. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are simply confused (perhaps an American visitor to this site who doesn’t understand that the UK political system and healthcare system are completely different to those in the US?) rather than deliberately trying to mislead people, which would be highly unethical.
Many of the same people who tirelessly campaign to eradicate trans healthcare call abortion “baby murder”…..
I find that exaggerated, and not particularly comparable. Simple start, a lot of those conditions you are referring to are temporary and easily reversible (not abortion mind, but that’s a WHOLE different topic.)
This madness seems to be unstoppable. Sickening. We desperately need sanity and reality. It should be impossible to overturn considered careful and realistic research. May common sense and reality return! Urgently!
One person’s common sense is another person’s ignorance.
Well done Jo Wadsworth and B&H News for reporting on this. When we try to raise this safeguarding scandal we get ignored (or even manhandled out of the town hall). I seem to recall that parents raised first these concerns at a full council meeting back in the summer and our glorious new leader denounced their concerns as “baseless smears”.
Well done Jo Wadsworth and B&H News for reporting on this. When we try to raise this safeguarding scandal we get ignored (or even manhandled out of the town hall). I seem to recall that parents raised first these concerns at a full council meeting back in the summer and our glorious new leader denounced their concerns.
Has Dr Hall heard of the age of consent and child safeguarding?
‘Trans’ is only a protected EDI characteristic in the over-18s, not in children, who are legally children until they
attain the age of consent, at which point they can decide what they like.
Encouraging children to make irreversible and life-changing decisions when they will go through many natural changes and intense phases on the road to growing up is wicked in the extreme. These are also powerful drugs with potentially severe and life-limiting side effects. Puberty blockers are puberty stoppers. A form of chemical castration.
well said bazza
* woke not ‘women’!
Well put. As a parent, it’s tricky enough supporting our sons and daughters (NB TWO genders) through the complexities of life, let alone protecting them from confusing women narratives promoted by their school agenda. Add the involvement of misguided medic ‘experts’ and GPs, and we really have to be vigilant in our safeguarding of minors!
But “trans” is not a protected characteristic. “Gender reassignment” is what it says. Under the “trans” umbrella there are all kinds of things that don’t meet that definition. People’s inner sense of self is a changing thing and hard to verify let alone protect in law. The Equality Act protects facts. What people are. Not what they think themselves to be on Tuesday afternoons when the wife is at the cash and carry.
At least he’s not rinsing families for money while helping them.
You don’t pay tax then?
This article is shining a light on an emerging medical scandal. Well done Brighton and Hove News for having the courage to run this story. How does Dr Hall diagnose a “trans child”? There is no such thing as a trans child – just boys and girls. Cass will show that only affirmed children and young people have lost their lives to this ideology – which is why GIDS had to go.
I was a trans child, denied access to trans healthcare, and now my transition as an adult is much much more difficult
Most children have no idea about sex, they don’t even know whether they want to be a Dr, fireman or astronaut, this entire agenda has for. way to far and I dread to think of the lives that have been detrimentally effected. It doesn’t help have a council that have lost sight of the fact they are supposed to serve the people, and run around throwing millions at pet projects like gender neutralising children’s toilets. No wonder this maybe thought this type of barbaric behaviour was ok.
Agreed. This is all very concerning.
Are u dumb? They only give it out to 16 year olds, are you unable to read or actually thick? Ofc 16 year olds know what sex is
Ezra is an adult/influencer documenting his journey as a patient at this GP Surgery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrIn84VPRvw
“his”
Ezra is glamourizing the use of testosterone by women and influencing hundreds of young girls providing the ‘solution’ to dealing with puberty rather than coming to terms with it. Many of her videos start by saying ‘I’m gonna show you how to do something you’re afraid of and prove it will be okay’. The message is ‘Don’t like what’s happening to your body? Do what I did and start taking’ T’, bind your breasts and later have a double mastectomy’ it’s literally internalised mysogny
When I left primary school in the 1980’s, my best friends sister decided it would be funny to dress me and my friend up as girls for the last day at school. It was just a laugh. I shudder to think what might have become of me and my friend Lee if it were at the hands of this modern batch of lunatic teachers and Dr’s. I really can’t comprehend or decide whether they have just completely lost touch with their moral compasses or something more sinister and insidious is afoot. It certainly adds an even darker slant on the famous Pink Floyd line “Oh teacher…Leave those kids alone”
It’s interesting that the Surgery and the NHS Sussex spokeswoman just quoted ‘policy’ rather than speaking to the detail. Also, just shows how this heavily funded agenda to basically get in the heads of vulnerable young people seems to be somehow ‘protected’. I’m not hearing any concern or suggestion that they will investigate. Just hiding behind statements and dogma. So what is the Transgenda Toolkit which BH Council under the Greens spent 5 million do for these young people?
Why are people going to a surgery if this exists. This is very dodgy. It’s now in the public domain so surely the Council will have to investigate?
tatchellite nonces need dealt with
No-one is born in the wrong body. No-one. Our job is to learn to love the body we have. That’s where joy lies. It does not lie in pretending to be someone else in order to escape our problems. This whole thing needs to stop.
A lot of these youngsters will also be left with little or no sexual function as adults. Or ability to reproduce. As either gender. The results may be cosmetically better these days but they won’t gain a fully-functioning body as the opposite sex. And they will also be reliant on heavy drug regimes with side effects for the rest of their lives to maintain their new bodies. I wonder if these youngsters are even warned of these fates by Dr Hall before he prescribes drugs to change their lives forever. Changing gender is not a temporary fashion, but a lifelong disaster if an individual makes the wrong decision and is not aware of all the risks first. Learn to love the skin you’re in is the best advice.
Maybe this is why the ‘trans’ label has taken off. Rather than becoming the fully-functioning man or women they want to be, the truth of the matter is they find themselves in ‘transition’ forever, which is not the dream when they set out on their journey.
Fantastic and groundbreaking work from my local surgery. Very happy they are cutting through the middle class/Karen Trans hysteria and doing the right thing
Agreed.
So do no harm…unless its too young depressed girls who need support and time. Then its fine to make them infertile, be at risk to cancers and surgical complications and REGRET once their brains have matured. This Sam character should be struck off.
Wow. If this is true this surgery should be closed down. I moved to Chartwell Medical Centre as I was really underwhelmed with this surgery. Almost, impossible to see a GP and just run by the pharmacists that can only do so much. The place actually frightened me as if you need to see a doctor you need to see one. I knew it was almost impossible to see a GP here but I didn’t realise the GPs were doing this to vulnerable teenagers.
If I were a client of that practics I’d be looking for a new one…..
It’s one of the lead clinicians from GIDS who is manning the new children’s gender services and has bypassed the new ban on puberty blockers by stating “we’ll just give the kids cross sex hormones from their 16th birthday”.
The NHS is still totally captured.
I await the Hilary Cass’ final report with real concern. Especially noting that Hannah Barnes has said that things will “get messy”.
I hope every single GP who has prescribed blockers and hormones is struck off and named and shamed
It’s depressing how many people are so needlessly transphobic. What right does anyone have to impose their life choices on other peoples bodies? Should we be demonising people with body dysmophia? Is that going to help them, or just keep them out of sight so you don’t have to think about them?
If you aren’t directly involved in the situation maybe you should keep your opinion to yourself, instead of spewing hate towards a minority group.
Absolutely agree. This paper and this journalist both have form for stirring up anti-trans feeling with biased articles which encourage transphobe pile-ons for clicks.
Have some humanity and decency and let people navigate their own life decisions in peace.
despressing how many sickos there are who want to sterilise and mutilated young autistic people
This is exactly the kind of comment I mean. Repulsive, offensive, bigoted and with no basis in reality.
Leave people to live there lives in dignity. Your comments are not needed or wanted.
you need locked up with the other nonces
I’ve learnt to enjoy Blatchberg for the comic relief character they portray themselves as. Blatchberg likes to get a rise out of people, it’s basic, but keeps them entertained, I guess. However Conan, I’m happy to have some amicable discussions at any time. We may not always agree on things, but I will do my best to keep any ad hominem to a minimum, and have a good well-rounded discussion!
I do not hate anyone. My concern is for impressionable children who are being coerced and manipulated by questionable adults for questionable motives before they have a chance to grow up and find out who they are for themselves all by themselves. This is a safeguarding issue and the age of consent is also the law in this country. I have LGBT friends who are equally disturbed by what is being done in their name and how their flag is being used to fly it under. If the age of consent for one element of child protection is gone, all child protection is gone. That is the even more alarming picture which needs to be considered.
To be fair to you Barry, having a concern that you feel there is a risk to a young person is reasonable to have. I think to start, you’d do well to read into things like the Fraser Guidelines and the concept of consent in medical terms. I agree body dysmorphia is an evolving condition, and I will never reject the notion that we can continue to develop our understanding of why a person feels disassociated from their body in this way, and explore how we can help people in a variety of ways, not just through transition.
It is depressing.
We send our children to school and the NHS expecting evidence based decision making that operates within a clear and mature safeguarding framework that involves parents at all stages, and this is what we get from individuals in BHCC, an ideology supported openly by Green and Labour politicians. It’s heartbreaking.
Our children are being exposed endlessly by the Internet to unqualified, unregulated and unmonitored adults, coached with a language that is setup to evade law, evidence and regulation. Very successfully. Everyone who asks curious questions about this topic is immediately subjected personal attacks about being right wing, transphobic, hate, conversion therapy etc etc – it’s the perfect illustration of an ideology at work, not evidence based decision making that operates within a clear and mature safeguarding framework that involves parents at all stages.
We didn’t use to have to deal with this, why has this changed, how do we make it stop.
It is depressing.
We send our children to school and the NHS expecting evidence based decision making that operates within a clear and mature safeguarding framework that involves parents at all stages, and this is what we get from individuals in BHCC, an ideology supported openly by Green and Labour politicians. It’s heartbreaking.
Our children are being exposed endlessly by the Internet to unqualified, unregulated and unmonitored adults, coached with a language that is setup to evade law, evidence and regulation. Very successfully. Everyone who asks curious questions about this topic is immediately subjected personal attacks about being right wing, transphobic, hate, conversion therapy etc etc – it’s the perfect illustration of an ideology at work, not evidence based decision making that operates within a clear and mature safeguarding framework that involves parents at all stages.
We didn’t use to have to deal with this, why has this changed, how do we make it stop.
Actually, Fraser Guidelines lead us slightly away from involving parents at all stages universally. That’s the point of it. There is a debate to be had that not all parents are suitable to have that involvement, for a variety of reasons. You could look at things like FGM as an example, honour killings, and religious and cultural zealotry; all create prohibitive barriers for people accessing healthcare or subject them to retributive outcomes for doing so.
Unfortunately, Graham, we didn’t have to deal with this. I suspect we both come from a different era, and again one that’s different to the reality of a young person growing up these days. Internet access, as just one example, and the ease of accessing a wide variety of things has changed what a young person is exposed to, so things do have to change…it’s not a question of how to we make it stop, because that’s fantastical at best; rather we need to think about how do we support our young people developing in a modern era of interconnectivity? How do we have those conversations?
Maybe it’s no coincidence that this surgery has a rainbow serpent across the window. A warning to those who know their symbolism. Alternatively if it’s supposed to represent a heartbeat, it also flatlines at the end!
Ugh, come on Barry. The snake is part of the “Rod of Asclepius.” It is a widely recognized symbol of medicine and healthcare, symbolising healing and medicine in various cultures and traditions. That’s common knowledge.
bet you like a nice rod dont you benjy
The council, educational and medical institutions have been corrupted by ‘trans’ ideology, which is dressed up as social justice. This climate of medicalisation is destroying children’s developing sexuality/ health/ fertility. Puberty is not an illness, it’s a process of transitioning from child to adult and no GP should be giving untested drugs to minors. He will be held accountable.
Everyone is “corrupted” other than you does not make a strong argument, Karen. A measured and intelligent approach to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our young people, sure – that’s a universally agreed concept amongst the reasonable. Going on witch hunts because you think everyone else is “corrupted” is just zealous fanaticism. Have an educated standpoint, rather than some veiled threat that is as effective as a wet noodle, please.
Dr Hall is smart, kind and thorough. He considered a holistic approach to my heart issues which were resolved after taking his advice. In 57 years of accessing health care he is the best GP I have encountered. If I had kids with gender issues I would be delighted to have his support, experience and knowledge. I won’t be changing GPs. I am proud to be registered with a lgbtq enlightened practice. Thanks Dr Hall. Keep doing what is right
One further point I’d like to add when talking about safeguarding please look at the statistics regarding mental health and suicide rates of young trans people.. We need supportive services to save lives. Live and let live and stop being threatened by difference.
It’s a very good point that highlights a strong need for mental health services, especially for our young people. Brighton has some very unique demographics when it comes to mental health, and there’s a whole phantasmagoria of reasons why here. People with body dysmorphia could very well be suffering it because of a wide variety of things in their life. Each individual is just that, and such an individual approach is needed for each one.
groomers gonna groom
People who constantly call people pedophiles are usually trying to distract everyone from what they are…
Just because you chop your bits off and take potentially cancer causing drugs does not make you a man or a woman. That’s something you are born into.
yes well said fark
Go smoke a cigarette and eat a burger, shit, stand in your front garden, probably more risk for cancer
How many of you are doctors? 😅😅😅
Excellent truthful article. Thank you BH news.
This article is just yet more anti-trans culture war bullshit. Give something better and more important the platform, not the terfs, and for godsake monitor the comment section better
The terfs are little different from anti-abortion campaigners who paint doctors providing abortions as “baby killers” .
Condemning trans girls to go through male puberty is condemning them to years of misery as their bodies grow the beards, strong jawlines etc that are then very hard to undo in adulthood, and allow the terfs to call transwomen who transition in adulthood “bearded men in dresses”.
Comparing concerns about child medicalisation to anti-abortion extremism is a dishonest and inflammatory deflection. It deliberately shuts down debate by painting anyone who raises legitimate safeguarding issues as hateful. That’s not just unfair — it’s dangerous.
Let’s be clear: no one is “condemning” children to anything. Puberty is not a punishment. It is a natural, necessary developmental process — one that allows the brain, bones, and body to mature in harmony. Blocking or disrupting it with drugs is not reversible, and can have serious consequences for fertility, bone density, and long-term sexual function. The Cass Review, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and now parts of the US have all paused or severely restricted this approach for children, precisely because the risks are too high and the evidence too weak.
Your argument essentially boils down to: “Transition early, or face mockery later.” That’s not safeguarding, that’s blackmail.
The truth is, not all gender-distressed children grow up to be trans adults. Many resolve their dysphoria with time, therapy, and maturity. Fast-tracking them onto hormones and irreversible paths deprives them of that chance. It’s not kindness — it’s coercion disguised as compassion.
And let’s not ignore the misogyny in your comment. Calling women “TERFs” because they believe in biological reality and children’s rights doesn’t make your position more moral — it makes it more authoritarian. Women fought for safeguarding and bodily autonomy long before this debate. We will not be shamed into silence.
If the only way to make your point is to accuse others of being bigots and liken them to hate groups, perhaps your argument isn’t as strong as you think.
There is a disgusting amount of misinformation here. Ambiguous terms like ‘concerns’ and we ‘believe’ when you’re talking about side affects or HRT. Clearly the person writing this made no attempt to understand hormone replacement therapy and what it really does, and what is actually being prescribed to these 16 year olds. Shame on you Brighton and hove news for allowing such lies and unnecessary propaganda to be told.
Here are some facts for you; it is actually illegal for persons under 18 to be given Estrogen or Testosterone as a prescribed medicine, these underage trans folk are being given puberty BLOCKERS to stop them entering a puberty that will give them emotional distress. These blockers are ENTIRELY reversible
Good comment!
And shame on you moderators for allowing genuine transphobic hate in the comments. You do not speak for Brighton, you are not welcome in our city where we all love each other in every way. Take your hate elsewhere
How is it transphobic to ask for evidence a treatment works before giving it to children?
Completely irresponsible journalism to go as far as advertise where you can get this loony book, and to the loonies in the comments: 1. no child is getting surgery without their parents permission, this is strictly hormones which are not provided through a “loophole” informed consent is the word you are looking for. 2 puberty blockers are completely safe and reversible and we’ve been giving them to cis children for years, but for trans children it’s being pathologised. Thirdly the cass report is utter shit, she threw out anything that wasn’t double blinded which is impossible to do with hormones because they have to be done over a matter of years to and if someone grows tits they can probably tell their on estrogen.
Keep your baseless arguments, maybe it’ll help you win your election but it will never make you right
This comment reflects a worrying level of misinformation. Let me respond point by point.
1. “No child is getting surgery without parental permission, this is strictly hormones.”
Even if surgery isn’t being carried out on minors (which is not universally true), prescribing cross-sex hormones to children is not a neutral act. These hormones cause permanent, irreversible changes. Girls who start testosterone develop a permanently deepened voice and facial hair. Boys on oestrogen develop breast tissue. These effects do not “go away” if the drugs are stopped. We’re not talking about light intervention – we’re talking about inducing sterility, sexual dysfunction, and loss of natural development. Parental consent doesn’t automatically make this safe or ethical.
2. “Puberty blockers are completely safe and reversible.”
This is simply not true. The claim of reversibility was never based on long-term evidence. Puberty blockers interfere with brain and bone development during a critical window. The Cass Review and international experts have highlighted concerns around stunted growth, impacts on cognitive function, and the near-total likelihood of progressing to cross-sex hormones once blockers are started – making the “pause” effectively a conveyor belt. In almost all cases, blockers do not lead to exploration, but to medical transition.
Yes, blockers have been used for certain conditions like precocious puberty in very young children – but that’s a completely different context. Blocking puberty in a healthy 11- or 12-year-old is not equivalent, and conflating the two is misleading.
3. “The Cass Review is utter shit.”
The Cass Review was an independent, NHS-commissioned review conducted over four years, engaging clinicians, international experts, and evidence bodies. It highlighted the poor quality of the existing studies, the lack of long-term follow-up, and the urgent need to shift away from ideologically driven, one-size-fits-all “affirmation.” Dismissing it out of hand because it demands robust evidence is the opposite of safeguarding.
It’s true that randomised double-blind studies are difficult in this area – but that doesn’t justify abandoning standards entirely. When outcomes are life-altering and risks are high, we must be cautious, especially with children.
This isn’t about elections, it’s about children’s safety.
We need mental health support, not affirmation-only pathways that tell kids they were “born in the wrong body.” We need to stop pretending that hormones are harmless or that kids can make life-altering decisions before they can legally drive. And we need to resist the bullying tone that insists questioning any of this is “transphobic.”
If we truly care about children – all children – then we should be honest about what these treatments do, what we don’t know, and what irreversible really means.
My daughter has had wonderful care from Dr Sam. Previously she was filled with such awful anxiety about transitioning during puberty but not a man. She felt wrong in her body. She feels and has always felt that she is a girl but born with the wrong genitals. Can you even imagine what that would feel like? Being trans has nothing to do with sex. It’s about gender and your body matching how you feel inside. Being trans does not make you a bad person. It is literally about gender. From these comments I can see that many people have not experienced life with a trans person in their family. It is not easy to live with the fact that you feel wrong in your own skin.
Dr Sam has been a life line to us. My daughter is now living the life she wants and one that is in line with how she feels. This is something that many cis gender people take for granted. Without Dr Sam I know my daughter would self harm and would possibly have gone further than that as she is adamant she will not live as a man. Dr Sam has the expertise to support trans patients and is putting his patients needs ahead of his own. He should be knighted for his dedication to serving a community that is currently being persecuted.
I can hear how much you care for your daughter, and I absolutely recognise the distress that gender dysphoria can cause – especially during puberty. But we must also acknowledge that distress alone does not justify irreversible medical intervention, particularly for children.
Puberty is not an illness. It’s a natural, essential developmental process – including for children who feel conflicted about their identity. Blocking it or altering it with hormones doesn’t simply “buy time” – it locks in a path that forecloses other outcomes. These are not neutral treatments; they come with lifelong consequences, including infertility, loss of sexual function, and health risks that we still don’t fully understand. The Cass Review made this abundantly clear: the evidence base for medicalised gender care in youth is extremely weak, and the risks are real.
Supporting young people in distress means listening to them, yes – but not affirming a fixed identity and fast-tracking them onto medication. That’s not safeguarding. That’s not good mental healthcare. Telling a vulnerable child that their only path to peace is through medical transition may offer short-term relief but can entrench distress in the long term, especially if they later feel regret or come to understand themselves differently.
No one is saying being trans makes you a bad person. What many of us are saying is that children deserve careful, exploratory care – not affirmation as the only option, not drugs with lifelong impacts, and not ideology ahead of evidence.
We need to protect children from irreversible decisions while they’re still figuring out who they are. That includes protecting them from well-meaning but misguided adults who confuse compassion with unquestioning validation.