NHS plans autism and ADHD tests for children at gender clinics

0:06Hi, I'm Suze Cooper and welcome back to The Standard Podcast. If you're new here, hit follow and give us a rating. Coming up... Campaigners say that this shuttle bus is inadequate and it adds to unnecessary time and emissions to what should be a sustainable journey. We'll be joined by Anthony France to hear how 1 ,000 cyclists brought the Silvertown Tunnel to a standstill.

0:36But first, the way the NHS supports children and young people with gender dysphoria could be about to change. Plans leaked to The Telegraph suggest children referred to gender clinics will be screened for autism, ADHD and other neurodevelopmental conditions. It's thought to be part of a move away from a medical model towards a more holistic approach. It comes after the Cass Review raised big questions about how gender services are run and about the evidence behind treatments such as puberty blockers. The London Standards' Daniel Keane joins me now. Dan, how have these plans come to light and what's being proposed?

1:13These plans were leaked to the Telegraph newspaper last night and according to the leak, children who have gender dysphoria will be tested for various neurodevelopmental conditions, Banclos autism, ADHD and essentially this comes in the wake of the CAS review into gender identity services. And it is part of a kind of suite of policy recommendations that the review has made. And it could be potentially a big moment for gender services for teenagers. So did the CAS review highlight a link between autism and gender dysphoria that's led to the idea that this screening might be useful? Yes, I think broadly what the CAS review attempted to do was move away from the kind of medicalisation of gender dysphoria and look at a more holistic package.

2:02What doctors want to do is look at various aspects of children's lives when they're referred to services. And there has been historically a link made between autism in particular and gender dysphoria. That is something that still needs comprehensive research to actually uncover what it is. But yes, there is an established link, which hopefully this policy will be able to address. So you mentioned there about how this is a move away from the medical model to a more holistic model. Are you able to explain that shift for us a little bit more? Yeah, I think what this will mean is that there's increased kind of mental health assessment of someone in care, their family relationships, whether they have learning disabilities, looking broadly at their kind of cognitive, physical growth, not just in a medical sense.

2:51And yeah, that's something that the CAS review says is desperately needed in order to better serve people with gender dysphoria. So what might the benefits of introducing this screening be? So I think that one of the benefits that Health Minister Stephen Kinnock spoke about today is that it could help lead to treatment that reflects what he called the complexity of each individual. And that's something I think they'll be hoping to achieve is making sure we're actually delivering treatment that is reflective of someone's life and how they're really growing rather than just ticking boxes that are kind of laid out by medicine.

3:27But if you're a family right now trying to get support, how different might this new approach feel? Is it possible this could slow down getting access to the support they need? I think it will be key to look at the detail of the policy. At the moment we only have a leak in a newspaper. The resources are obviously stretched. People do wait a very long time for diagnosis of autism and ADHD. There's long waiting lists across the NHS. I think you alluded to delays. That could very much be a possibility. But the hope, I suppose, is this will be a long-term change. And, you know, with increased investment and an actual increased focus, that this could improve the situation for many people and actually ameliorate their mental health situation.

4:08Are we hearing any comments from campaign groups yet, Dan? Yes. So there's been quite a big backlash to this because it is obviously a very controversial policy. Human Rights Group Stand for All director Dan Sohej has said that officials in the NHS and the government need to stop treating us, as in the trans community, as if we are broken. and he said how hard is it to accept us as us I want to cry at the way we're talked about so I think that's gives you a bit of a reflection of how the community is feeling about this there's still a huge amount of controversy over the cast review it's important to stress that not everybody accepts its recommendations this has caused some pain and suffering and that this debate will continue to go on.

4:53Thanks Dan. Well NHS England says it's testing a new draft plan for Children's Gender Services in light of the CAS review. The plan focuses on a more holistic assessment of young people and will soon go to full public consultation. They say they've also changed the referral system. Now only paediatricians or child mental health specialists are able to refer patients to NHS Gender Services.

5:20Let's go to a break. Coming up in part two, we'll find out more about why Critical Mass London stormed the new Silvertown Tunnel on Friday. We'll see you back here in just a moment.

5:43Welcome back. Thousands of cyclists have ridden through the Silvertown Tunnel calling for greater road safety. The riders from Critical Mass London stormed the tunnel during rush hour on Friday in what they're calling a mass trespass. It comes just weeks after the new toll tunnel in East London was opened in the hopes of easing congestion at Blackwall, cutting down emissions and improving air quality. But cyclists say the plans have overlooked their pedal power and instead of including a safe cycle lane through the tunnel, they're asking cyclists to load their bikes onto a shuttle bus to travel the new route under the Thames.

6:18While drivers now pay up to£4, the cyclist shuttle bus is currently free. but there's no promise that it will stay that way. The London Standard's Anthony France has been covering the story. It sounds like Friday's rush hour was busier than usual, Anthony. Yes, about 1 ,000 cyclists descended on the newly opened Silvertown Tunnel in a protest calling for greater road safety. They were from the group that called themselves Critical Mass London and they swarmed the northbound entrance near the O2 Arena in what they called a mass trespass. All of this happened on Friday night and there were reports from drivers who were unable to enter the tunnel that the actual tunnel was closed for about an hour.

7:02Well, videos on social media show the cyclists riding through en masse, ringing bells, pulling wheelies, but they have serious safety concerns about the tunnel. Tell us what sparked this reaction. The new Silver Line Tunnel opened earlier this month cost£2 billion and it is in fact the first new road crossing under the Thames in 58 years. And they're very upset about it because it has no bike lane and they believe that will cause more anger. And also with motorists avoiding the tunnel, that will cause more congestion on other roads, which again will put cyclists at risk. I think what pushed Critical Mass London to do this is just the general concern about the number of road fatalities in London.

7:50Last year, TfL recorded 110, which is just awful. But I know that a lot of the campaign groups using a slightly different definition have recorded 130. This is obviously a sharp increase on 2023, where there were 95. and of course even more than 2022 when there were 102. Even if you look at the sad figures from 2023, you're talking about eight cyclists who died on the roads. And of course the campaigners will say every death is one too many. Well, some of the key reasons for building the tunnel were to reduce congestion at Blackwall, cut emissions and improve air quality over there. Do the protesters feel that this is actually just splitting the problem rather than solving it?

8:37Yes, I think as far as the campaigners are concerned, the fact that this road is basically going to move traffic problems from one area of London to another. TfL obviously see it as a major infrastructure project that will benefit users. At the moment, car drivers pay up to£4 to use the road. cyclists are not allowed to ride through the mile-long tunnel and have to use a bus bike a shuttle service in both directions but another thing that's angered the campaigners is that at the moment TFL are saying that this will be free to use for at least a year but there's been no guarantee that will continue.

9:20Do you think we could see people ignoring the no cycling rule and riding through the tunnel anyway? Yeah I mean it would be very dangerous to do it which is I think why they did it all en masse on Friday and especially Friday night as well. You know, campaigners say that this shuttle bus is inadequate and it adds to unnecessary time and emissions to what should be a sustainable journey. Well, the tunnel's now built and the cycle buses are in place. These protesters are trying to prove a point. Are we likely to see more of this if nothing changes? I think they will do. We've not heard from Transport for London so far today, all the Metropolitan Police, to see if there were any arrests.

9:57But I'm sure the cyclists will be back on the roads if their demands are not met. And that's The Standard. For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk and please do drop us a line at podcasts at standard.co.uk. This podcast returns tomorrow at four. We'll see you then.

10:24Thank you.