Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting has indefinitely extended a ban on puberty blockers.

The move followed a consultation by the Commission on Human Medicines which found that prescribing puberty blockers to children for the purposes of treating gender dysphoria, in the current prescribing environment, represented ‘an unacceptable safety risk'.

Speaking in the House of Commons on 11 December, Streeting said: ‘On the basis of those findings, I am acting on the commission's advice and putting in place an indefinite order to restrict the sale or supply of puberty blockers to under-18s through a prescription issued by either a private UK prescriber, or a prescriber registered outside the UK.'

The secretary of state said the updated legislation would be reviewed in 2027.

A trial to understand the effects of puberty-suppressing hormones on young people led by the National Institute for Health and Care Research will recruit its first patients by spring 2025.

NHS England has published a new services specification to ensure that children and young people experiencing gender incongruence have an appointment with a paediatrician or mental health professional before being referred to specialist services following the Cass review.

NHS England has opened three new gender identity services—in the North West, London and Bristol—with a fourth expected in the East of England by spring 2025 bringing together clinical experts in paediatrics, neurodiversity and mental health so that care can be tailored to patients' needs.