Statistically, you will have never heard of endometriosis. Despite the fact it was first identified in 1860 and affects one in ten women and those AFAB, the vast majority of the population are oblivious to the pain and suffering that many go through on a daily basis.
For readers who haven’t heard of it, endometriosis is a condition where cells similar to the ones lining the womb (the endometrium) are found elsewhere in the body. Each month these cells react in the same way to those lining the womb, building up and then breaking down and bleeding. Unlike the cells lining the womb that leave the body as a period, this blood has no way to escape. This can cause inflammation, pain, and the formation of scar tissue. Thanks to this information gap, too many women think the debilitating pain and symptoms they are experiencing is ‘normal’ and they have to live with it.
The pain is often so bad, one in six people with endometriosis have left the work place due to their condition, and I am amazed it isn’t more. It is almost impossible to remain at work when suffering from chronic pain and the mental toll that these conditions take. The present situation is bad for women, it is bad for employers, and it is bad for the economy.
During an adjournment debate on endometriosis I secured last week, the Minister acknowledged that women with endometriosis have been failed and that patients have spent too long waiting for the care they need.
It is no secret that our NHS is struggling, but as the Minister highlighted during my debate, cutting waiting lists is a top priority for the Government. Waiting lists for gynaecological care have grown faster than any other specialty in recent years, and there are now close to 600,00 women on the list. While warm words are welcome, what we now need is the action to back them up.
The NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis were recently updated, which I have long supported, but I fear this may not have as much of an impact as desired. During my time in Parliament, I have spoken to countless women living with endometriosis, and many of them have told me that GP’s and doctors are simply unaware of the clinical guidelines for endometriosis, and have been to their GP, hospital, or even A&E dozens of times before the proper pathways are followed and they subsequently receive a diagnosis.
The most recent report from the Women and Equalities committee calls upon the NHS “to urgently implement a training programme to improve the experience of treatment and diagnosis in primary care for women, girls, trans and non-binary people with reproductive ill health”, a recommendation I fully endorse. Ensuring that new clinicians receive the training and experience they need to recognise the symptoms of endometriosis and that the updated guidance is properly communicated to medical practitioners would result in savings for our NHS in both time and money, but more importantly, it would help provide the answers and support women so desperately need in a timelier manner.
“It’s just a period, get on with it.”
