Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2024
807. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that clinicians with extensive experience have found serious methodological flaws in the Cass review (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29944/24]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, a new clinical programme for gender healthcare has been initiated by the HSE, and over the next two years an updated clinical model for gender healthcare services will be developed.
To improve the clinical pathway for people with gender health needs, the HSE has appointed the Clinical Lead for the multidisciplinary team (MDT) who will lead the development of a new Model of Care under the auspices of the National Clinical Programmes.
The work will be informed by the best evidence based clinical care for individuals who express gender incongruence or dysphoria. Emerging and evolving international evidence, including the recently published Cass Report will be reviewed as part of this work.
The HSE’s Gender Healthcare National Clinical Programme is committed to developing an updated model of care in a consultative way and stakeholder engagement will be an important part of this work. This will ensure that people with lived experience will be involved in the design of services and advise on the delivery and evaluation of services.
It is important that the HSE is given time to develop a model of care that is based on the best clinical evidence and that will deliver the best outcomes for persons with gender incongruence or dysphoria.
I welcome the development of a model of care which will deliver a high quality seamless and integrated service for people with gender identity issues.
