The Tavistock & Portman denies reality, puts ideology ahead of patient care

These are not the people to whom we should entrust the care of vulnerable children.

On Friday The Times, The Telegraph and The Daily Mail all reported that a former NHS CEO has been rejected for a senior role at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust because of her views on biological sex.

LGB Alliance @ALLIANCELGB

The Tavistock is facing accusations of discrimination after retired NHS CEO Kate Grimes was told not to "waste time" applying for senior leadership roles, as the trust was not interested in hiring "anyone with gender-critical views."

thetimes.co.ukNHS trust tells gender-critical boss not to apply for senior roleThe NHS Trust that runs a controversial gender identity clinic for the young is facing accusations of discrimination after a potential candidate who believes th

Kate Grimes is a former NHS chief executive who worked in healthcare management for almost three decades and has a reputation for transforming failing hospitals. She is also a lesbian who was named one of the NHS's top 25 LGBT role models in 2014.

Last year she wrote an article for the Health Service Journal, expressing her view that working with Stonewall is no longer compatible with NHS values. “My concerns are three-fold. First, and most importantly, Stonewall’s influence is undermining our ability to keep our patients safe. Secondly, it stifles free speech and creates a culture of fear amongst some staff. Thirdly, it gives misleading and potentially unlawful advice.”

More recently, Grimes made enquiries about taking a role at the Tavistock and Portman. She was told not to bother applying because her knowledge that it is not possible for human beings to change sex is deemed unacceptable.

The Tavistock and Portman Trust provides treatment for gender dysphoria in children at its Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). That service has been the subject of much criticism in recent years.

An external review by the Care Quality Commission gave GIDS an overall rating of ‘inadequate’ and reported numerous problems there. BBC journalist, Hannah Barnes, detailed the CQC findings in this Twitter thread.

Hannah Barnes @hannahsbee

NEW: Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service rated ‘inadequate’ by CQC after inspecting GIDS in autumn. CQC say inspection prompted by concerns reported by healthcare professionals & Children’s Commissioner, who’d been given evidence by me&@deb_cohen for @BBCNewsnight. 1/

In 2018 the then Tavistock governor, Dr David Bell, wrote an internal report detailing the concerns of his colleagues about patient care after around 10 of the clinic’s staff came to see him, unsolicited and independently, with grave worries. Trust authorities subsequently tried to suppress the report and silence Dr Bell.

When interviewed by Channel 4 News in January 2021, Dr Bell discussed his report’s main areas of contention:

• Patients did not have the capacity to consent to the treatment they received.

• Children were rushed into medical treatment so transition became a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’.

• There was no follow-up data kept after patients had been discharged.

• Comorbidities, such as childhood trauma and autism, were not examined prior to a trans diagnosis being given.

• Medical treatment was a form of ‘conversion therapy’ for gay and lesbian gender non-conforming children.

Channel 4 News @Channel4News

‘Children have been very seriously damaged’ by NHS gender clinic, says former Tavistock staff governor

channel4.com‘Children have been very seriously damaged’ by NHS gender clinic, says former Tavistock staff governorDr David Bell wrote an internal report in 2018, raising the concerns brought to him by colleagues about the way the Gender Identity Development Service was treating patients.

He described children as having been “Very seriously damaged” and referenced the influence of the trans lobby on the trust: “Leaders of movements of a very powerful ideological commitment have managed to capture policy, both medically, professionally, in the media and in government, with no evidence base.”

In 2019 consultant psychotherapist, Dr Marcus Evans, resigned from the trust over its ‘blinkered’ and ‘one-sided’ response to the clinicians who voiced concerns about the ‘woefully inadequate’ care. A further five clinicians resigned from the trust shortly after Dr Evans’ departure, voicing concerns over the use of puberty blockers and the treatment of patients.

TransgenderTrend @Transgendertrd

Governor of the Tavistock clinic resigns in protest at its "untruthful" response to a report showing serious concerns from clinicians. 25 clinicians at the trust have signed a letter protesting against how it handled the concerns of medical staff.

thetimes.co.ukGovernor quits ‘blinkered’ Tavistock clinicA governor of the NHS trust that runs England’s only gender clinic for children has resigned in protest at its “blinkered” and “one-sided” response to doctors who had raised the alarm about “woefully inadequate” care.Marcus Evans, a consultant psychotherapist at the Tavistock and Portman trust with

In June 2020 BBC Newsnight reported that staff at the trust who voiced concerns about the treatment of patients were being ignored and silenced by their superiors. Dr Matt Bristow, a former Tavistock psychologist, expressed his fear that gay and lesbian children are being put on a pathway to transition without their sexuality or potential issues around it being explored.

Dr Bristow was echoing concerns already expressed by other Tavistock clinicians who spoke about homophobic parents bringing gay, lesbian and gender non-conforming children to GIDS to be ‘fixed’. One clinician told The Times, “There was a dark joke among staff that there would be no gay people left”.

It wasn’t only clinicians who expressed concerns over patient care at GIDS. The Tavistock’s Safeguarding Lead, social worker Sonia Appleby, also tried to raise staff concerns with her employer. When she was subsequently ostracised, subjected to quasi-disciplinary action and actively prevented from doing her job, Appleby was forced to take the trust to an employment tribunal which ruled in her favour.

BBC Newsnight @BBCNewsnight

A woman who raised concerns about the safety of children at an NHS gender clinic has been awarded £20,000 in an employment tribunal case. Producer Hannah Barnes and health correspondent Deb Cohen broke the news that formed part of Sonia Appleby's case. #Newsnight | @hannahsbee

The Tavistock and Portman is currently recruiting for a new chairman and non-executive directors. In light of all the alarming stories detailed above, someone with Kate Grimes’ expertise, experience and reputation should be welcomed with open arms. Instead, when she inquired about the roles, she was rejected out of hand.

Emails from Dr Melanie West, an external recruiter, informed Grimes that she would not be considered for the role and should not bother to apply. “Your view on sex being immutable is not a view point that the Trust would wish any of their non-executives to hold and as such I would not recommend that you waste time making an application for this.”

The emails also added that candidates will be questioned on their views regarding sex and gender at first stage interview.

Staff opinions that are deemed acceptable at the Tavistock & Portman seem to include support for extreme sexual fetishes in which adults eroticize children and childhood.

Reduxx @ReduxxMag

The transgender Head of Psychology at the London Gender Identity Clinic has published literature claiming disturbing sexual fetishes are "sexualities." Dr. Christina Richards places adult babies and furries on the same spectrum as homosexuality.

reduxx.orgTavistock Gender Clinic Head Supports Ageplay, FurriesA prominent psychologist within the Gender Identity Clinic at Tavistock has called for normalizing ageplay, furry fetishes, and a variety of sadomasochistic sexual practices as “sexualities.” Dr. Christina Richards, the Lead Psychologist and Head of Psychology at the London Gender Identity Clinic, i…

Christina Richards is Lead Consultant Psychologist/Head of Psychology at the London Gender Identity Clinic which falls within the Tavistock and Portman’s jurisdiction. He is a trans-identified male who has twice written papers advocating the normalisation of 'ageplay', a sexual fetish in which adults have sex while identifying as children.

The ideological capture of our national healthcare provider is complete.