Growth, Vindication and What's Next for Gender Plus

Paul Carruthers, Aidan Kelly, Claudia Zitz

As we bid farewell to 2025 and approach our third year of operation, we wanted to reflect on what has been a transformative twelve months for our organisation and look ahead to 2026.

A year of growth and validation

This year we've seen the Gender Plus Hormone Clinic double in size. Our team has grown accordingly - we've welcomed two new clinical nurse specialists and two new administrators. This has more than doubled our hormone clinic staff team to ensure our service users can continue to access the same levels of healthcare excellence they've come to expect. Getting the right team in place while managing this growth has been our primary operational focus, and we are incredibly proud of what we've achieved.

But growth hasn't come without challenges. As the only regulated private provider of gender affirming healthcare to those under 18, we continue to lead in this field - and that leadership has put us firmly in the crosshairs of those seeking to block access to timely, compassionate care for trans individuals - particularly those under the age of 18.

Standing firm through legal challenges

The most significant challenge came in January 2024, when Susan Evans and an unnamed mother brought a Judicial Review challenging the CQC's decision to register Gender Plus Hormone Clinic and, later, to award it an outstanding rating. After a two day hearing in June 2025, Mrs Justice Eady DBE concluded that she was "satisfied the steps taken by the CQC were rationally focused on scrutinising the actual process by which [GPHC] provided the service." When Evans et al applied for the right to appeal in November, that too was unsuccessful.

This vindication matters enormously - not just for Gender Plus, but for continuity of care for the young people who depend on our services.

Accountability has been crucial in other areas too. A personal highlight for Aidan was securing a settlement with the Daily Mail. After years of them targeting providers of trans healthcare, being able to hold them accountable - with the help of the Press Justice Project - was a particularly sweet victory.

The broader landscape

Social and legal scrutiny has changed the political focus and we are increasingly seeing trans people shut out of the conversation. As a result we are acutely aware of the need to continue to advocate for those who so often are unable to advocate for themselves. Normalising the experience of those who are gender incongruent through education among the general population will remain a core focus.

Looking to 2026

Our biggest priority for the year ahead is managing continued growth - from embedding new team members and processes to continuing to be a voice that stands alongside and amplifies the voices of trans people, rather than trampling over them.

In 2025 we were able to provide heavily subsidised care for two patients under 18 and two over 18 - thanks to a generous donation. This led to us working with the team at the newly launched Gender Pathway, a trans-led organisation dedicated to working with providers such as ours to support those who, without help, might otherwise struggle to afford access to timely care. We will continue to explore creative solutions for this patient cohort as we move into 2026.

We will also continue to strive for greater levels of shared care with GPs. Our focus is on increasing our current rate - which is just over 50% - to 70%. As we build relationships and demonstrate our credibility as leading private providers in this underserved area of medicine, we are confident this will increase.

Our longer-term ambition is to provide timely access to transgender healthcare to all those who need it. With waiting lists that stretch into years, our specialist expertise will empower more GPs to provide the necessary blood tests and prescribe hormones on the NHS.

Why we are confident

As a team, we are confident we can navigate the challenges ahead because of the decades of expertise contained within our service - many of us have an NHS background having worked for GIDS - and the external experts we have as part of our wider team including communications and legal support. It's always important to acknowledge that these challenges are not caused by the community we serve, but by external forces.

Our CQC Outstanding rating, obtained after just one year in operation, is testament to the rigour with which we approach patient care. It should provide confidence to both our team - and anyone watching - that Gender Plus has not only the wellbeing of the community at its heart, but the professional skill to provide the care they need to live their lives with confidence.

That's what drives us forward into 2026.