Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock's Gender Service for Children

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A deeply reported, scrupulously non-judgmental account of the collapse of the NHS service, based on hundreds of hours of interviews with former clinicians and patients. Barnes notes that Sweden, Finland and France have also all concluded that the perceived benefits of puberty blockers do not outweigh the risks. This NHS service was said to be using “poorly evidenced treatments on some of the most vulnerable people in society”.

Swift Press | Time to Think

The book is centred around Barnes' over 100 hours of interviews with close to 60 former clinicians who worked at GIDS. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. Accusations of “transphobia” became a way to ensure that the medical pathway was prioritised over less invasive options such as psychotherapy. Dr Anna Hutchinson is a clinical psychologist who has specialised in adolescent mental health and embodied distress over many years.I can think of other stories where people have wanted to be granted anonymity because they still work in the field. To raise safeguarding concerns about children and young people who happen to be experiencing gender related distress should be viewed in the same way as it should be about anybody.

Time to Think by Hannah Barnes review – what went wrong at

By 2017, there was already an extensive paper trail of concerns being raised and whistle blowers speaking individually to senior management.His report gained wide publicity and became part of the chain of events leading to the judicial review, the Cass report and finally the decision to close the service. I think there was a complicating factor that, in some cases, safeguarding concerns… you know, there was a grey area between the safeguarding concern and the trans identification. GIDS director, Polly Carmichael, in particular seemed to allow Susie Green and Mermaids to dictate policy at GIDS. Then beyond that, it's in that team meeting where you're allowed to speak but nothing seems to then happen. If osteoporosis doesn’t matter to someone receiving puberty blockers, then they probably shouldn’t be receiving them.

Time to Think review: the book that tells the full story of

And in this case, you had a certain cohort of people who are really quite desperate to get their story out. Writing Time to Think was without doubt the hardest thing I have ever done, including the births of my two children. Actually, there isn't agreement amongst frontline clinicians working with this group of young people about how best to care for them, and how there may be different ways to care for different people. From the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for your part in tirelessly striving to expose what has been going on. FiLiA: I wondered a bit about how it compares to other stories that you've covered in your career, because you've been working in journalism for a while.To the figure’s left, subtly carved into the wall, are the words: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. Time to Think” goes behind the headlines to reveal the truth about the NHS’s flagship gender service for children. Some trans people saw attacks on Gids as attempts to stop children transitioning at all; some gender-critical campaigners treated its closure as vindication of wider arguments.

Hannah Barnes | Book review | The TLS Time to Think by Hannah Barnes | Book review | The TLS

There really isn't a robust evidence base, when you compare that to other fields of medicine, for the use of those treatments, to treat that condition. And that's the case in Sweden as you mentioned, it's the case here in England and it's the case in Finland. I mean, what new services come out of GIDS’ closure will end up displeasing some and pleasing others. FiLiA: Your book focuses on an incredibly divisive topic, which is how to approach gender dysphoria in children. He branded GIDS “not fit for purpose”; by then, eleven clinicians had left in the previous six months because of ethical concerns.Do you screw over your colleagues to help the service users, or inadvertently screw with service users to help your colleagues?