![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/2157\/live\/75b68740-7cc6-11ef-a67b-f99dba43d792.jpg.webp\")
Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nThe doctors’ union, the BMA, says it will take “a neutral position” on the recommendations of a landmark review into care for children and young people with gender identity issues.<\/p>\n
The British Medical Association (BMA) had previously called for a pause in implementing its recommendations – including a move away from drugs to delay the start of puberty – and wanted a ban for under-18s to be lifted.<\/p>\n
But around 1,000 senior doctors wrote an open letter to the BMA<\/a> expressing extreme disappointment with its stance.<\/p>\n The Cass Review, commissioned by NHS England and published in April, also advocated better mental health support as part of gender care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The BMA says it will “retain a neutral position on the Cass Review”<\/a> recommendations after a vote by its council earlier this week.<\/p>\n It is carrying out its own evaluation of the review and said it would listen to the views of patients and clinicians carefully.<\/p>\n On the BMA’s website, BMA council chair Professor Phil Banfield said the Association’s evaluation of the Cass Review would be “evidence-led, starting from a position of neutrality”. <\/p>\n “I cannot predict the outcome of our evaluation,” he said. <\/p>\n “However, I am clear that we will hear different perspectives, always prioritising the needs of transgender children and young people, who deserve the very best care.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Cass review<\/a>, led by leading paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, prompted the last government to ban the use of puberty blockers for under-18s questioning their gender \u2013 a move which was then supported by Labour when they won the election.<\/p>\n These drugs suppress the natural production of hormones and delay the onset of puberty.<\/p>\n The NHS had already stopped using puberty blockers outside of clinical trials, so the ban was tightened to apply to private clinics and European prescribers.<\/p>\n Puberty blockers are now only used by those under-18s already taking the drugs for gender dysphoria. They can also be used in NHS clinical trials and in a few other circumstances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But the BMA’s Council, its top decision-making body, voted in favour of a motion that was critical of the Cass Review<\/a> and called on the union to “publicly critique” it.<\/p>\n The BMA said it was concerned about its impact on transgender healthcare provision because of its “unsubstantiated recommendations”.<\/p>\n And in the summer, the BMA called for a pause in implementing the review’s recommendations<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, those behind the review defended the way it was carried out, saying it had looked at 237 papers from 18 countries – the largest and most comprehensive to date. The review also consulted widely with those with lived experience, health staff and leading experts in the field, they said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n NHS England is changing the way gender services for children and young people are organised.<\/p>\n