Use of GIDS patient data in a research project

The Cass Review, which is looking at how to support gender-diverse young people across the health and care system, includes a research programme to improve the evidence in this area.

This includes a project by the University of York to provide an evidence base of the different pathways the outcomes for all young people who have come forward for support with their gender identity. It will aim to do this by tracking the journeys of young people referred to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) through the healthcare system.

To support this research, on 30 June 2022 the Department of Health and Social Care laid The Gender Recognition (Disclosure of Information) (England) Order 2022 in Parliament. This Order will enable the researchers to have carefully controlled access to pseudonymised data (i.e. they will not be able to identify anyone from the data they receive) for a time-limited period, and solely for the purposes of the Review’s research.

The Cass Review website includes a page about the proposed research, including information on what data will be looked at, who will see clinical records, and how service users have been involved so far.

Before starting, the research project will be assessed by a Research Ethics Committee (REC) and a Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG). This will likely take place in the Summer of 2022.

Read about the proposed research:

https://cass.independent-review.uk/research/

Read the Order on the legislation.gov.uk website: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/742/pdfs/uksiem_20220742_en.pdf

You can engage with the Cass Review on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/thecassreview