Agenda item - Formal Public Involvement

A deputation has been received from Mr Keith Burchfield (to follow).

16.1    The Board received a deputation from Mr Keith Burchfield (see    deputation in agenda pack).

16.2    The Chair responded to Mr Burchfield’s deputation:

          Thank you for bringing this deputation to the Board. We acknowledge           your concerns, and we take our safeguarding responsibilities seriously,   working closely with our local adult and children’s safeguarding boards.

          There is currently a live, ongoing investigation into the issues you have      raised, led by NHS England and NHS Sussex. I have asked NHS Sussex         to comment on your deputation, and they have asked me to read out a           statement:

          “This is an independent patient safety investigation into prescribing for         gender dysphoria for children and young people – under the age of 18 -     at WellBN.

          The investigation follows concerns raised about prescribing that may fall     outside of national clinical policy and guidance, which are based on the          best available evidence.

          We are working with NHS England and have launched a rapid   investigation into this care to determine the most appropriate support and treatment for these individual patients going forward.

          The investigation is being conducted by independent clinicians.

          The Terms of Reference for the investigation are clear regarding the           safeguarding duties that may be required, and Sussex ICB is working as      fast as possible to initiate the review.

          We are very aware there are strong opinions and concerns from both perspectives on this issue and have published as much information     about the investigation as is possible on our website. We will update this      page when more information can be shared.”