Seventy-eight children were potentially harmed after being given puberty blockers and hormone treatments by an NHS GP clinic, a report has found.
The WellBN GP practice, which has three surgeries in Brighton, including one in Western Road, offers a Trans Health Hub which "aims to improve access to healthcare and support for trans, non-binary, intersex and gender-variant people aged 16 plus".
The practice was subject to an independent patient safety investigation amid concerns about "inappropriate prescribing of medications" for children with gender incongruence or dysphoria.
The investigation, led by NHS Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) with support from NHS England and published on Thursday, found care "fell far short of what could be considered safe or appropriate".
The report, which said the 78 children had been treated between January 2023 and December 2025, said none of the clinicians involved "were professionally competent to initiate or assume responsibility" for prescribing gender medications "without oversight or support from a specialist gender service".
It said blood and other necessary tests "were often not carried out", which investigators said meant the immediate and longer-term physical health of the children involved was put at risk.
READ MORE ABOUT WELLBN ON THE ARGUS:
- Brighton GP WellBN under investigation for gender medication | The Argus
- Portslade teenager defends WellBN Trans Health Hub | The Argus
- Father sues Wellbn Sussex Partnership over HRT for teens | The Argus
The report said: "Care at the practice for the 78 children and young people fell substantially below that set out in service specifications and national clinical policy.
"Puberty blockers and gender-enhancing medications were prescribed without a comprehensive bio-psychosocial assessment (in 22 cases without even face-to-face appointments having taken place) without essential baseline and ongoing investigations and in 75 cases without referrals to paediatric endocrinologists."
The ICB said its investigation "concludes that potential harm has been caused to the 78 children and young people", and defined harm as the "absence of care that should have been provided and the potential impact of the care that has been provided".
Gender-affirming hormone treatment, also known as cross-sex hormones, for 16 and 17-year-olds was paused across the NHS in March this year after a review found evidence does not support its continued use.
The treatment, prescribing masculinising or feminising hormones, had previously been available on the NHS for 16 and 17-year-olds with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria who met certain criteria.
Puberty blockers have been banned on the NHS – outside clinical trials – since 2024.
A clinical trial into the impacts of puberty blockers on children as young as 10, launched in November, has been paused since February, before anyone had been recruited, amid concerns about the "unquantified risk" of "long-term biological harms".
