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The waiting lists for gynaecology appointments in the United Kingdom have more than doubled since February of 2020, according to BBC research. There are now around 755,046 appointments waiting to happen, compared to 360,400 prior to the pandemic, indicating that at least 630,000 women are on the waiting list with issues ranging from endometriosis and fibroids to incontinence and menopause care. The UK’s health ministers claim they are working to improve the situation, but medical professionals say that women are being failed by the government.
Anna Cooper, 31, from North Wales, has been afflicted with endometriosis since her teenage years and has permanently damaged organs. She has had 17 operations, including a hysterectomy, and now has two stomas in place because of the effects of the disease. She says the illness controls her life, and has been deemed “mentally tormenting”. Cooper is still on the NHS waiting list due to suffering from bleeding post-hysterectomy, despite undergoing expensive private operations totalling £25,000. Medics allegedly did not listen to her for years, telling her that the pain was “in her head” and that she had to “just get used to it”.
According to Dr. Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), women are being let down and change is urgently needed. Gynaecology is the only elective specialty that solely handles women, and the UK has one of the worst waiting lists for it, suggesting an enduring lack of priority given to women and their health. Gynaecology waits per 100,000 women are 2,055 in England, 2,345 in Scotland, and 3,187 in Wales. Jenni Minto, Scotland’s Women’s Health Minister, says excessively long waits are not acceptable and that more money is being devoted to women’s health.
While there are signs that waiting lists are beginning to improve, the situation is much worse than before the pandemic. In February 2020, there were only 66 gynaecology waits exceeding a year, compared with over 22,000 now. Dr. Sue Mann, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Women’s Health, admits that some women wait far too long for vital gynaecology appointments, despite staff working hard to see more patients. Specialized medical teams working outside of hospitals could aid in this issue, according to Mann, and Wales is due to publish its women’s health plan next month, with Northern Ireland’s regions working on plans to improve gynaecology services
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