Child under five years old among thousands of people on gender clinic waiting lists as over 5,700 under-18s included

GPs can refer children to one of the specialist clinics if they are in severe distress induced by gender dysmorphia.

Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust was previously the only clinic providing gender services for children.

The controversial clinic was closed in April, later replaced by two services operating at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.

New services were created to offer more “holistic” care to children struggling with their gender identity.

The service brings together existing mental health, hormone and autism services.

However, waiting lists stood at 5,769 by the end of May.

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The NHS previously stressed that its gender care service needs to expand to meet demand.

But stressed it “will take time to fully deliver, and the pace of progress will continue to be impacted by staffing challenges”.

NHS England stressed the two centres would be the first of up to eight specialist centres as part of the northern and southern hubs over the next two years.

Cass used her final report to warn the length of the waiting list to access gender services had “significant implications” for children and their families.

She recommended a “holistic and personal” care model, potentially comprising a wide range of interventions and services, including paediatric and mental health services.

Dr Roman Raczka, president of the British Psychological Society, said: “These latest figures make for concerning reading. It is imperative that children and young people have timely access to the professional care and support they need.

“We must remember that behind the numbers, headlines and often toxic public discourse, there are children and young people who need to access care.

“All too often the issue of gender care which has played out in public has been damaging to the children, young people and families desperately seeking help and must change.”