Emily Maitlis claims her BBC investigation led to shutdown of England’s only under-16 gender clinic
The Tavistock Clinic, which treated under-16s experiencing gender dysphoria, was closed last year following the publication of the Cass Review.
By Callum Wells
Emily Maitlis has said her BBC investigation into the use of puberty blockers helped bring about the closure of England’s only NHS gender identity service for young people.
Speaking on The News Agents podcast on Monday (10 November), the former Newsnight presenter reflected on her coverage of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). The clinic, which treated under-16s experiencing gender dysphoria, was closed last year following the publication of the Cass Review into trans youth healthcare.
Maitlis said she and her Newsnight colleagues questioned what she described as “arbitrary” decisions made by clinicians at the Tavistock.
“The work we did actually led to the closure of the Tavistock” – Emily Maitlis on The News Agents
“I remember working with Esme Wren and Hannah Barnes and Deb Cohen and we were looking at the question of the Tavistock,” she said. “This was the only gender identity development service for the under-16s.
“We questioned why it wasn’t data led, why it seemed to be so arbitrary with the kind of recommendations and advice and even the [puberty] blockers they were handing out to young people. The work we did actually led to the closure of the Tavistock.”
Maitlis, who anchored Newsnight between 2018 and 2021, made the remarks during a discussion about BBC director-general Tim Davie’s resignation amid claims of “serious and systemic bias” in the broadcaster’s reporting on Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights.
During her tenure, Newsnight aired several investigations into GIDS. A 2020 segment examined claims that some young people were progressing “too quickly” through treatment. However, the Care Quality Commission found patients were waiting up to two years for an initial appointment. As of August 2025, Tavistock’s adult Gender Identity Clinic was treating referrals from March 2020 – three months before that episode aired.
Some UK trans patients face waiting lists stretching more than 200 years
A separate report this year described the NHS’s handling of GIDS’s closure and the rollout of new regional hubs as “shoddy, disorganised [and] messy”. Two former Tavistock clinicians told What The Trans!? that there was “no safe plan” for transferring care, and that staff were informed of the closure at the same time as the media.
“There was no safe handover from the old service to the new service,” one clinician said.
Months later, 17-year-old trans girl Leia Sampson-Grimbly took her own life. A coroner ruled her mental health had worsened after the shutdown, noting she had waited “far too long” for treatment.
Campaigners have warned that wait times remain extreme, with QueerAF reporting that some UK trans patients face waiting lists stretching more than 200 years.