GIDS Suicides & Gender Dysphoria Internal Audit
Reference: 24-25184
Date response sent: 12/08/2024
Details of enquiry
The Department of Health & Social Care published “Review of suicides and gender dysphoria at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust: independent report” on 19 July 2024. The article states that you conduct an internal audit.
Please send me:
- correspondence, discussion, agenda, minutes showing the circumstances that prompted the Trust to conduct the audit
- information about the extent of the audit
- information about the depth of the audit
- information about the methodology of the audit
- information identifying the external stakeholders (organisations, service providers, chartered accountants etc) involved in the audit
- the key dates (data cutoff, progress milestone, etc.) of the audit
Response sent
Please send me:
- correspondence, discussion, agenda, minutes showing the circumstances that prompted the Trust to conduct the audit
The work to which you refer, as stated by Prof Appleby in his Review of Suicides and Gender Dysphoria at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, was a mortality audit, – undertaken by a clinician, in line with good clinical practice, to consider learning from deaths.
Revised/Additional Response Provided upon Request: The mortality audit was agreed at local level, no formal meetings were required to ratify this decision, as it forms part of normal clinical practice.
The Trust routinely conducts a mortality review for every death of a patient.
A senior clinician expressed a wish to review a case series of deaths within GIDS and undertook a mortality audit, which forms the basis of Dr Louis Appleby’s report.
The Trust follows clinical guidance and reports published over last several years, in relation to learning from deaths , eg National Quality Board 2017, CQC Review- Learning Candour and Accountability 2016, NHS Patient Safety Strategy 2019.
2. information about the extent of the audit
As stated above. This was a mortality audit looking at GIDS deaths 2018-23, as referenced in Prof Appleby’s report, conducted in line with good clinical practice and to support learning.
3. The information about the depth of the audit
The audit was a case notes review of the electronic patient record of deceased individuals.
4. information about the methodology of the audit
As stated above. Case notes review of electronic patient records
5. information identifying the external stakeholders (organisations, service providers, chartered accountants etc) involved in the audit
This was an internal clinical audit. Findings were shared with relevant external stakeholders.
6. the key dates (data cutoff, progress milestone, etc.) of the audit
Please see above.
Revised/Additional Response Provided upon Request: This audit was presented around 2021 and covered deaths from 2018 to 2021.
The output was presented in November 2021.
This was a case series, ie a review of deaths, occurring within a given period, 2018-2021, and completion of the case series review was November 2021