Specialist gender services for children and young people: progress report

Introduction

1. On 8 May 2024 Scottish Parliament passed motion S6M-13090, calling on Scottish Government to prepare a progress report on the 'existing strategy for reducing long waits for children and young people to access specialist gender services'. This document outlines progress to date, a high-level summary and discussion on work to improve young people's gender services and reduce waiting times to access this healthcare. It highlights actions taken, progress seen and, where appropriate, challenges experienced to improvement.

2. It should be noted that prior to the Scottish Parliament passing motion S6M-13090 Scottish Government had already commissioned an independent evaluation to examine the impact of centralised funding allocated to Health Boards, to reduce waiting times and improve service delivery of gender identity healthcare in Scotland in NHS Scotland. Doing so was a specific commitment made in the NHS gender identity services: strategic action framework 2022-2024, published December 2021 ('the 2021 Framework').

3. This independent evaluation is well advanced and is wider in scope than this report. Following standard procurement processes, that evaluation is expected to be published next year.