The NHS will be closing Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, the UK's only gender identity clinic for children and young people, after it faced criticsm

The NHS is set to close the UK's only gender identity clinic for children and young people.After facing criticism, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust has been told to shut down.According to the BBC, new regional centres will be provided for patients to make sure holistic needs are met.Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust reportedly had long waiting lists, as well as staff who were concerned about how things were being run.Former patient Keira Bell even spoke out in court and claimed that the clinic didn't challenge her enough to make sure she was making the right decision at 16 years old, before giving her drugs to transition from female to male.Speaking about the closure of Tavistock, she told BBC Radio 4 World at One: "I'm over the moon. Many children will be saved from going down the path that I went down.

"I went through a lot of distress as a teenager. Really I just needed some mental health support and therapy from everything that I've been through. There needs to be mental health support first and foremost."

Speaking about the creation of new regional centres, a spokesperson from LGBTQ+ rights group Stonewall, said: "The creation of new specialist regional centres in London and Manchester next year, with more to follow, will go some way to addressing the strain experienced by having just a single, centralised service."