A British doctor in charge of an offshore “online transgender clinic” which gives children access to controversial puberty blockers has had her licence revoked.
Dr Helen Webberley, 55, will lose her licence from today after a decision by medical regulator the General Medical Council (GMC).
The GMP had made the move after it emerged Dr Webberley did not comply with a legal obligation to renew her licence – but the decision will not stop her from leading “GenderGP”, the online clinic in question.
GenderGP, which markets itself as providing “fast, easy, and compassionate gender-affirming care”, charges hundreds of pounds for access to puberty blockers – a kind of medicine which blocks the body’s production of hormones which would, unmedicated, allow young people to go through puberty.
GenderGP facilitates the provision of puberty blockers via nasal spray or injection
GenderGP/Getty
The blockers – which had been restricted for under-18s by ex-Health Secretary Victoria Atkins and her successor Wes Streeting – are available to adults and children questioning their gender via Dr Webberley’s site.
In order to, as the site says, “be in charge of your gender journey”, people looking to take the controversial drugs are connected with doctors outside the UK who can provide them with prescriptions.
Subject to assessment, GenderGP facilitates the provision of the blockers via nasal spray or injection to kids as young as eight – in contravention of the Cass Report, which concluded there was a dearth of sufficient evidence behind prescribing them.
The firm came under fire in the High Court earlier this year after giving a “dangerously high” amount of hormones to a 16-year-old – which the 55-year-old has slammed as “untrue”.
Dr Webberley said that she had been unable to renew her licence because she could not find a “responsible officer” who could second her fitness to practise.
READ NEXT:
The service talks up its “immediate access” to care – via connecting patients to overseas doctors
GenderGP
Though the 55-year-old added that she had not used her licence to practise for seven years – when the GMC began investigating claims of serious misconduct over her treatment of three transgender children.
Though Dr Webberley was found to have committed the misconduct and was barred from practising medicine in 2022, she successfully appealed said ban last year.
She told the Times: “The difficulty is… I no longer have a connection with an NHS trust or a GP surgery. I don’t have a responsible officer. It’s also very difficult to get that connection after what I’ve been through.”
Dr Webberley added that despite being offered the chance to take the exams needed to renew her licence, she declined as “they don’t have one for doctors working in transgender medicine” – prompting the GMC to withdraw her accreditation.
The 55-year-old has vowed to continue working at GenderGP – based in Singapore, which she denies is a move to evade scrutiny from the Care Quality Commission, with which it is not registered – despite the revocation.
A GMC spokesman said: “Every licensed doctor must take part in the revalidation process, which provides assurance that they are keeping their knowledge up to date, are fit to practise and that no concerns have been raised about them.
“Doctors who do not have a connection to a designated body or suitable person are able to revalidate in a number of ways, including by passing a written multiple choice test called a revalidation assessment.
“There are 12 assessments to choose from, and doctors are encouraged to choose one closest to their most recent area of specialty.
“We cannot tailor assessments to every doctor’s specific area of practice.
“If doctors do not comply with our guidance on revalidation without reasonable excuse, we may withdraw their licence to practise.”