On Thursday 31 July 2025 the High Court (Eady J) handed down judgment in R (Evans) v Care Quality Commission [2025] EWHC 2015 (Admin). The claim challenged the decision of the Care Quality Commission to register a private provider, Gender Plus, for the provision of certain gender hormones (referred to by some as cross-sex hormones and by some as gender-affirming hormones) to 16-17 year olds. Gender Plus is the first private provider of such hormones to be registered in the UK.
The claimants argued that the CQC decision had failed to take into account considerations relevant to whether the treatment was being provided in a safe way. These included the enhanced safety afforded by features of the process by which the hormones were now available to 16-17 year olds on the NHS, and the personal views of those at Gender Plus as to the appropriateness of the treatment at that age.
The Court held that the matters required by law to be taken into account had been considered, and that the CQC’s decision was lawful. The judgment identifies differences between the process on the NHS and that applicable at the private provider.
The case has been widely reported in the press, including in the BBC, the Independent, the Telegraph, the New Statesman, and the London Evening Standard.
Tom Cross KC and Oliver Jackson appeared for the claimants, instructed initially by Sinclairs Law and latterly by Conrathe Gardner LLP. You can read the judgment here.
