Camden’s Tavistock Centre has been criticised by a coroner but its specialist clinic for children and young people closed down last year
A teenage girl who took her own life waiting for gender dysphoria treatment at a shuttered clinic for young people could have been saved by swifter intervention, a coroner has ruled.
The “complex, kind, intelligent and determined” 17-year-old Leia Sampson-Grimbly, “greatly loved by all who knew her”, died in 2024 following a struggle with her mental health as she sought specialist help from Camden’s Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
Senior Coroner Andrew Walker said the centre’s waiting lists for a first appointment were “far too long”. As she waited many months for treatment, Leia faced hostility from parts of the community and was exposed to social media content inciting people like her to suicide, he added. “Having to battle with changes to her body without receiving the necessary preventative treatment, together with the many hurdles and setbacks, gradually eroded her belief that she would succeed and everything would be alright,” Mr Walker said.
Though the coroner urged the centre to do more to bring down waiting lists, the trust told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) its specialist gender clinic for children and young people was in fact closed last year – when Leia was seeking treatment. Its services had since moved to new providers.
A spokesperson for the trust said: “Our sincere condolences go to the family. The trust is engaging with the coroner following the Prevention of Future Death report.”
Rise in gender dysphoria referrals among teen girls
The Tavistock Centre’s services for gender dysphoria among children have faced heavy criticisms in the recent past, amid a 5,000% increase in the number of teenage girls referred to the now-defunct Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) since 2010. Health inspectors rated GIDS as “inadequate” in 2020 after whistleblowers raised concerns, leading to an independent review launched that year, led by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass.
Former patient Keira Bell had also brought a High Court case against the clinic over its use of puberty blockers. She said she had not been challenged enough about her decision at 16 to take the drugs that began her transition from female to male – a decision she later regretted.
In 2021, the centre reported nearly 5,000 children were waiting, in some cases for as long as two years, for an appointment.
Specialist gender clinic for young people shut down
In 2022, the Cass Review’s interim report concluded that the service was struggling to deal with spiralling waiting lists or keep “routine and consistent” data on patients, and had put young people at risk. She suggested introducing regional hubs to tackle the rise in referrals. Soon after, the NHS ordered GIDS to shut down.
At the end of the four-year-investigation, Cass found that there was “remarkably weak evidence” that gender medicine like hormone treatments and puberty blockers improved young people’s wellbeing. The drugs have since been banned.
GIDS wound down last year and the Tavistock Centre no longer offers specialist support for under-18s. Referrals are now made through a National Referral Support Service for the Children and Young People Gender Service. Since the clinic’s closure the health service reported the exponential rise in referrals for critical care had eased. NHS Medical Director for Specialised Services, Professor James Palmer, suggested this was down to a “change in philosophy” around hormone treatments brought in by the Cass Review.
However, as of March this year, 6,225 children remained on the national waiting list – up 12% since 2024.
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