A GP who was fined for operating an unlicensed gender clinic is bypassing regulatory safeguards to issue puberty blockers and sex change hormones online.
Helen Webberley moved the GenderGP business to Spain after she was suspended by the General Medical Council in 2018, enabling her to continue providing the drugs to children as young as twelve.
The medical outfit, now owned by a Hong Kong company, is exploiting a loophole allowing prescriptions to be dispensed from Switzerland or a European Economic Area country.
’Matter of urgency’
GenderGP undertakes “information gathering sessions” by video link before issuing prescriptions via the Clear Chemist pharmacy in Liverpool. Both have defended the legality of the practice.
But Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive of the General Pharmaceutical Council, said that after investigating the pharmacy it was “now considering what further regulatory action to take”.
“We expect pharmacy owners to make sure they do not work with online providers who are trying to circumvent the regulatory oversight put in place within the UK to ensure patient safety throughout the healthcare system.”
He added: “In the meantime, the superintendent pharmacist of ClearChemist has advised us that he has taken the decision to only dispense prescriptions to patients over 18 years old where the patient has given consent to speak with their GP about their prescribed treatment.”
’Rushed into medications’
The BBC reports that GenderGP has been referenced more than 500 times on a website for parents hosted by trans activist group Mermaids this year.
Parents using the site were not warned that the service did not meet UK regulatory requirements. Mermaids said an internal investigation was under way.
GP and journalist Dr Faye Kirkland told the BBC that parents were recommending GenderGP as a way to bypass NHS delays on accessing puberty blockers and sex hormones for their children.
Kirkland reported that some of the parents who had used the service said they had felt “rushed into medications through the site”.
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