Gender identity clinic the Tavistock Centre has made improvements to its services ahead of its closure early next year, a health watchdog has found.

The Tavistock Centre in Swiss Cottage - the UK’s only dedicated gender identity clinic for children and young people - is set to close by March 31 next year to be replaced by regional centres.

The centre, run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, was inspected but not rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after a visit in September.

The trust is rated 'good' overall - the second highest score - but the centre itself was rated 'inadequate' - the lowest - in a October 2020 inspection.

It was criticised for being difficult to access, with more than 4,600 young people on the waiting list and two-year waits for a first appointment.

Inspectors found staff did not always assess and manage risk well and had not consistently recorded the capacity and consent of patients referred for medical treatment before January 2020.

The report said staff did not develop holistic care plans for young people or always include the full range of specialists required to meet each patients' needs.

In a recently published report, the health watchdog said that the centre had made “some improvements”.

But inspectors added: “Further work was needed to fully address the breaches of regulation and to ensure that improvements were embedded and sustained.”

Safeguarding processes at the centre had reportedly been strengthened, with all clinical and non-clinical staff having undertaken role-relevant safeguarding adults and children training.

The 2020 report said the service was not consistently well-led, with staff themselves not always feeling respected, supported and valued.

After the latest visit, leaders at the centre were praised for having the skills, knowledge and experience to perform their roles.

Staff reported that the culture within the service was improving and that they now felt more confident in raising any concerns.

But the CQC said that some records were “not always of good quality”, and that staff were still not recording risk management plans clearly in the patient record.

Inspectors added: “Although improvement actions had been identified for most audits, completed changes in practice had yet to be fully embedded.”

Since October 2022, the centre has not been accepting any new referrals and is not involved in the management of the waiting list.

The CQC said this meant previous breaches in relation to long waiting lists at the last inspection – when the centre was rated ‘inadequate’ - are no longer valid.  

A Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said, “We acknowledge the issues described by the Care Quality Commission in their report, and we continue to work to put in place measures to address these.

“Following a system-wide review undertaken by Dr Hilary Cass, NHS England is implementing a new model of care, and GIDS will close in 2024. 

“We are actively working with NHSE and the new providers to establish this service.”

The overall rating for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust remains ‘good’.