Thread by @Transgendertrd

"It is, to put it mildly, surprising that given the degree of mismanagement and serious neglect they [NHS England] have not intervened" - David Bell.

External report in 2015 recommended GIDS take "drastic action."

Thanks to @hannahsbee for this report.

bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-56…

The report argued the service was "facing a crisis of capacity" to deal with an ever-increasing demand and it should "take the courageous and realistic action of capping the numbers of referrals immediately".

"Several staff have confirmed to the BBC most GIDS employees were never told of the recommendations."

"The report's findings were shared only during a meeting of the senior team."

Escalating referral numbers, large caseloads & increasingly complex cases led to "escalating risk." "Many were self-harming; others were struggling with depression, anxiety, bullying or eating disorders. Some suffered traumatic or abusive childhoods."

This is not just about children not receiving adequate care. These are adolescents being put on a pathway of experimental medical intervention which will affect their bones, brains, fertility & sexual function, with unknown long-term risks and lifelong dependency on medication.

"Had this report been acted on, and indeed even shared internally, GIDS and the Tavistock may have stopped themselves from going down a path which many, least to say some of its patients, may end up regretting," one clinician said.

Instead GIDS doubled the workforce through recruitment of junior, inexperienced staff to work alongside experienced clinicians, adding to their workload and the pressures they were already under.

"There are also questions for NHS England. How was it that as reports questioning both GIDS' model and, in later years, its ability to offer the best care possible to every single patient surfaced, it didn't step in?"

It is difficult to imagine a greater degree of negligence from GIDS & NHS England towards this group of highly vulnerable adolescents, the majority teenage girls with complex mental health problems.

We also still ask the question: How is it that in their 2016 report on the Tavistock GIDS the Care Quality Commission rated the service "good"?