A new multi-disciplinary team led by the chief medical officer (CMO) – comprising paediatric, pharmacy and scientific expertise – will be convened to examine clinical recommendations of the Cass Review, and consider how they may apply to NHS Scotland, the Scottish public health minister, Jenni Minto, has announced.
Giving an update on the Scottish Government’s response to the review, which was chaired by Dr Hilary Cass, the minister also restated the Scottish Government’s commitment to invest £9m to support the improvement of NHS gender identity healthcare in Scotland.
As part of this overall commitment, £2m will be allocated this year and in each of the next two years.
In her statement, Jenni reiterated the Scottish Government’s commitment to make sure services are delivered to the highest standards, including continuing work to develop new National Standards for Gender Identity Healthcare. These standards will be published in the summer.
The minister started her statement to the Scottish Parliament by reaffirming her commitment to reforming and improving gender identity healthcare, specifically addressing young people.
She said: “We are absolutely committed to investing £9m to support the improvement of NHS gender identity healthcare in Scotland.
“As part of this commitment, since December 2022, we have invested over £2.8m to support work to improve access to gender identity healthcare in Scotland, with over £2.2m of that allocated directly to health boards with gender identity clinics.
“Now we will invest a further £2m, as a part of our £9m commitment, this year and a further £2m in each of the next two years and we are committed to long term sustainable funding for these services beyond that point.”
The £9m funding is set to be delivered over a five-year period, so that foundational work can be further embedded and built upon – an approach based on feedback from health boards and third sector stakeholders, according to the Scottish Government.
As part of the Strategic Action Framework, Jenni highlighted that the CMO, along with the deputy chief medical officer and other senior medical officers, will support careful consideration of the Cass Review’s clinical recommendations and engage with the Scottish Association of Medical Directors.
She added: “CMO will provide a written update to parliament on the outcome of that clinical consideration process before the Summer Recess.”
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