Health minister Mike Nesbitt announces £800k for Northern Ireland 'gender identity service'
Stormont’s health minister has committed £806,000 to a “gender identity service” for Northern Ireland – saying it will provide “much needed additional medical and nursing resources”.
However, the Department of Health is yet to give more detail on the service, such as the age range of those eligible to attend and the ethos and remit of the clinic.
Mike Nesbitt’s move comes two years after the government announced it would close the UK’s main gender service at the NHS Tavistock clinic in London after it was heavily criticised in a review. It was to be replaced by two regional clinics in England.
The health service across the UK operates on a so-called affirmation model – whereby if a child says they are trans (their body doesn’t align with their perception of their sex) that is taken at face value.
Critics have warned that this approach closes off other potential causes of mental health distress in young people, and sets them on a path towards medicalisation – or “transition”.
This involved (now banned) puberty blocker drugs to stall normal sexual development, which was often followed by cross-sex hormones and then irreversible interventions such as mastectomies, castration and other cosmetic surgeries.
The UUP minister says he is committed to improving gender identity services in Northern Ireland as well as increasing capacity.
In a statement he said: “I am committed to improving wider gender identity service provision for children, young people and adults in Northern Ireland.
“Since 2019, my officials have worked closely and collaboratively with the Belfast HSC Trust, the Gender Identity Review Group and Gender Identity Liaison Group to develop a business case for the expansion of the Gender identity Lifespan service.
“This will increase capacity within the service to allow the Trust to address waiting times and ensure that patients receive the appropriate care they need in a timely way. The funding investment will also provide much needed additional medical and nursing resources into the service”.
He said the £806k funding will be allocated to Belfast Trust in the coming weeks.
The new received a cautious welcome from LGBTQ+ lobby group the Rainbow Project.