:00:00. > :00:15.Welcome to BBC London News with me, Alex Bushill.
:00:16. > :00:18.BBC London has learnt that young people experiencing gender identity
:00:19. > :00:21.issues are waiting up to two years to be seen at London's only
:00:22. > :00:27.A leading expert has likened that wait to psychological torture.
:00:28. > :00:32.Ben Hunte has been to meet one young person on the list.
:00:33. > :00:36.I developed an eating disorder caused by my gender dysphoria.
:00:37. > :00:40.I've struggled with depression and self-harm and being suicidal.
:00:41. > :00:43.Alex is one of thousands of teenagers in the UK who would
:00:44. > :00:49.He's asked the NHS for help and has been made to wait more than a year.
:00:50. > :00:53.I felt like I was having to put my whole life on hold to wait
:00:54. > :00:55.for this thing I needed, with no idea of the time
:00:56. > :00:58.because it was so unclear how long it would be and how long
:00:59. > :01:01.It was something that affected the whole family.
:01:02. > :01:04.We were really very frightened and alone,
:01:05. > :01:10.Nobody seemed to be able to advise us.
:01:11. > :01:12.Everyone was saying they didn't know anything about gender issues
:01:13. > :01:15.and it was the Tavistock who would advise on that,
:01:16. > :01:19.but we couldn't see the Tavistock for months and months.
:01:20. > :01:22.Alex is waiting to be seen at the Tavistock, the UK's only
:01:23. > :01:24.clinic for under 18s who have difficulties with
:01:25. > :01:29.They offer everything from counselling to puberty
:01:30. > :01:32.blockers, medication which prevents the body's natural development.
:01:33. > :01:36.And the demand has never been higher.
:01:37. > :01:39.BBC London has learned that between 2016 and 2017,
:01:40. > :01:42.there were just over 2,000 referrals to the clinic.
:01:43. > :01:47.Looking back to the previous year, there were just
:01:48. > :01:57.That equates to a 104% increase - a doubling in the numbers.
:01:58. > :01:58.This demand is leading to long waiting times,
:01:59. > :02:01.which some experts say is damaging to health.
:02:02. > :02:04.For them, the wait is hugely distressing.
:02:05. > :02:07.Every day is an agony, as they see themselves being more
:02:08. > :02:20.and more developing into a physical body that is quite foreign to them.
:02:21. > :02:22.Although the Tavistock Centre acknowledges it can do more
:02:23. > :02:24.to reduce waiting times, the team says some of the treatments
:02:25. > :02:26.are life-changing and can lead to infertility,
:02:27. > :02:34.We offer young people the opportunity over time to be
:02:35. > :02:36.thinking about their options and thinking about what's right
:02:37. > :02:39.for them, both in the present and in the long-term.
:02:40. > :02:42.And gender identities may carry on or they may change over time,
:02:43. > :02:45.and I think it's about not racing forward too quickly,
:02:46. > :02:51.Critics of gender therapy treatment say that more research should be
:02:52. > :02:54.done into the effects of the medication on the body, especially
:02:55. > :03:01.We are treating them as if they are adults and they
:03:02. > :03:05.You know, nobody, as an adult, identifies in the same
:03:06. > :03:12.We have to give children a chance to grow up before making such life
:03:13. > :03:15.The Tavistock Centre is now recruiting more staff
:03:16. > :03:17.to deal with the overwhelming demand.
:03:18. > :03:24.Even so, for young people like Alex, the wait continues.
:03:25. > :03:26.We should be worried about young people having
:03:27. > :03:28.to wait for this therapy, because trans teenagers have such
:03:29. > :03:30.a high rate of suicide and mental health problems.
:03:31. > :03:33.We're risking their lives when we make them wait for treatment.
:03:34. > :03:35.No-one knows why the demand for gender therapy has
:03:36. > :03:39.But experts say, despite the wait, any young people who need help
:03:40. > :03:44.Voters go to the polls tomorrow in elections
:03:45. > :03:46.for the County Councils outside London.
:03:47. > :03:49.The Conservatives are dominant in these four home counties,
:03:50. > :03:53.Surrey, Essex, Herts, Bucks, with 186 councillors compared
:03:54. > :04:02.to 36 Lib Dems, 25 Labour, 13 Ukip and 22 others.
:04:03. > :04:05.A universal challenge for all our councils is how
:04:06. > :04:07.to afford social care with an ageing population.
:04:08. > :04:09.You may remember the headlines when Surrey County Council wanted
:04:10. > :04:12.to increase council tax by 15% to pay for social care,
:04:13. > :04:22.We visited a care home there to find out more.
:04:23. > :04:30.It is not your average care home scene, here at
:04:31. > :04:33.Priory Court near Epsom they have their very own pub room.
:04:34. > :04:42.Residents here, and thousands more across the home counties,
:04:43. > :04:45.know they're at the centre of a row over how their care
:04:46. > :04:52.Some other homes charge ?2,000 per week and councils don't
:04:53. > :04:55.have enough money to meet the growing number of those who
:04:56. > :05:01.Surrey says it has to find an extra ?16 million
:05:02. > :05:07.I think there is this eternal worry as to where is the
:05:08. > :05:16.I think families get worried as well.
:05:17. > :05:19.We asked politicians from Surrey County Council to tell
:05:20. > :05:21.residents what their parties would do to solve what's
:05:22. > :05:25.I believe it's time the Government looked at putting on a special tax
:05:26. > :05:28.or insurance policy for the elderly, so that over the years we have
:05:29. > :05:38.sufficient funds to pay for your care when you get elderly.
:05:39. > :05:40.The Government recently announced an extra ?1 billion
:05:41. > :05:50.The Lib Dems call for ?2 billion to tackle the crisis.
:05:51. > :05:52.It's a lovely thing that we can live longer,
:05:53. > :05:59.The Council should be addressing the Government,
:06:00. > :06:02.we need a nationally funded, integrated system that provides
:06:03. > :06:11.for adult social care and the NHS services to work together.
:06:12. > :06:24.We will probably have to look at more taxes or some
:06:25. > :06:26.other way of funding, maybe when we come out the EU,
:06:27. > :06:29.some of the money which we are not going to be sending over
:06:30. > :06:32.to Brussels, for the big buildings maybe some of it,
:06:33. > :06:36.and I think we should be using some of it, to put more into the NHS
:06:37. > :06:43.We spoke to the four main parties on Surrey County Council
:06:44. > :06:46.here at Priory Court this morning, but Labour and the Green party
:06:47. > :06:52.are also represented on the authority with one seat each.
:06:53. > :06:55.We're going to ask them how they would tackle the crisis
:06:56. > :06:59.We would look to do as other counties have done, whether it's
:07:00. > :07:01.Berkshire or Dorset, Oxfordshire, streamline the local
:07:02. > :07:03.authority which would make one-off savings and ongoing savings,
:07:04. > :07:09.which could be used to fund adult social care.
:07:10. > :07:11.The real challenge is, in terms of local councils,
:07:12. > :07:13.we need to prioritise care, prioritise the future,
:07:14. > :07:15.prioritise the most vulnerable people in the UK before
:07:16. > :07:25.Back at Priory Court, what do the residents think?
:07:26. > :07:28.Have you heard anything today from any of the politicians that
:07:29. > :07:30.have given you any hope they have the answers?
:07:31. > :07:36.They're all coming up with the same thing,
:07:37. > :07:44.Something has got to be done, exactly what, I don't know.
:07:45. > :07:46.A sentiment voters going to the polls tomorrow
:07:47. > :07:55.Imagine being serenaded by one of the biggest
:07:56. > :07:59.Well last night, that's exactly what happened
:08:00. > :08:05.She thought she'd never be able to go to one of Ed Sheeran's
:08:06. > :08:06.concerts because she lives with a painful,
:08:07. > :08:10.So instead the superstar arranged a special one-to-one
:08:11. > :08:18.performance for her, as Katharine Carpenter can tell us.
:08:19. > :08:24.She's got the signed guitar and an Ed Sheeran doll,
:08:25. > :08:26.like lots of ten-year-olds, Melody Driscoll has a bit
:08:27. > :08:32.What's more, his music seems to ease her suffering.
:08:33. > :08:35.It's amazing to see someone that goes through so much pain,
:08:36. > :08:39.and she can't walk and she can't talk, and she's basically
:08:40. > :08:43.not got much of a life, to then have Ed enter it and he's
:08:44. > :08:47.given her a whole new meaning of life.
:08:48. > :08:52.He keeps fighting, he keeps her happy.
:08:53. > :08:56.Through the power of social media, Ed Sheeran heard about this and last
:08:57. > :09:01.November turned up unannounced at her hospital bedside.
:09:02. > :09:04.It led to this, a one-to-one gig at the O2 last night.
:09:05. > :09:17.Melody can't go to a public concert because of the risk of infection,
:09:18. > :09:21.but the star made sure she didn't miss out.
:09:22. > :09:30.He did the staging, the lighting, the big screens behind her.
:09:31. > :09:33.He made sure to her it felt like a proper concept.
:09:34. > :09:41.She got treated like she was the star, rather than him.
:09:42. > :09:45.When they met backstage, Ed said it wouldn't be the last time.
:09:46. > :09:49.Until then, Melody will have to make do with his regular video messages.
:09:50. > :09:52.Hi, Melody, I hear you've got a big operation this weekend,
:09:53. > :09:55.but I'm just ringing you say be brave.
:09:56. > :10:02.Surely enough to make any super fan very happy indeed.
:10:03. > :10:06.Just time to wish you goodnight and hand you over to
:10:07. > :10:18.Sadly, not much sunshine over the next few days. One of our weather
:10:19. > :10:22.watchers managed to catch a glimpse this evening. The cloudy conditions
:10:23. > :10:25.continuing to tonight. Like we have seen through today, occasional spots
:10:26. > :10:30.of light rain and drizzle coming through in the north-easterly
:10:31. > :10:34.breeze. Having that cloud around, temperatures don't drop much at
:10:35. > :10:38.night. Six or seven Celsius at the lowest by the time we get to
:10:39. > :10:43.tomorrow morning. Again, expect a great start. Some patchy, light rain
:10:44. > :10:47.or drizzle, what we do say will mainly just whack the ground, some
:10:48. > :10:50.places staying dry. Some subtle hints of brightness here and there,
:10:51. > :10:58.but with the north-easterly breeze it will still feel fairly chilly.
:10:59. > :11:03.Spot the difference as we go into Friday, we do it all again with lots
:11:04. > :11:08.of cloud around. With the outlook, it remains a little bit brighter as
:11:09. > :11:13.we go into Saturday, maybe rain later.
:11:14. > :11:19.The weather was one extreme or the other across the UK, warm and sunny,
:11:20. > :11:24.cold and grey. You can see which category Lowestoft was in, a lot of
:11:25. > :11:32.power across south-east India and South East England. -- a lot of
:11:33. > :11:35.cloud across South East Anglia and south-east England. That breeze is
:11:36. > :11:37.very important when it comes to the temperature, along the coastline in
:11:38. > :11:39.the past 24 hours.