We cannot let the next generation of women with endometriosis suffer in silence and in excruciating pain

There is an emerging scandal in our country. Endometriosis is a chronic illness which causes many women debilitating pain, agony and trauma, yet access to the specialist services needed to diagnose and treat it properly are out of reach.

Alongside incredible women from Ipswich and Suffolk, I sought to shine a light on this issue that has been hidden in plain sight for far too long and led a debate in Parliament. This is a significant first step, but I know this debate must lead to specialist services in my local area and across the country, ending the postcode lottery that exists.

Endometriosis affects one in ten women, meaning more than 1.5 million women in the UK are living with a condition that causes chronic pain, infertility, and profound mental health impacts.

In the UK, the average wait time from the first visit to a GP with symptoms to getting an endometriosis diagnosis is 9 years and 4 months.

For ethnically diverse communities, diagnosis takes even longer, 11 years on average.

Women are waiting around a decade – often in extraordinary pain, while their condition progresses unchecked – to be diagnosed with a relatively common reproductive health condition, suffering preventable, adverse effects as a result.

An almost universal experience for women diagnosed with endometriosis is having their symptoms overlooked, ignored and dismissed.

Endometriosis UK’s new report ‘The State of Endometriosis Care in the UK’ found that 82% of respondents were told by a healthcare practitioner that they were “making a fuss about nothing,” or received similar comments.

More than half of respondents attended A&E because their symptoms were so severe, with nearly a third attending three or more times. Yet, when asked what happened when they went to A&E prior to diagnosis, 46% responded: “Nothing, I was told to go home.”

Four in five were prescribed hormonal contraception before any investigations took place. Of those, 55% received no discussion about possible causes for symptoms.

On average, patients visit their GP ten times before endometriosis is even mentioned.

A key reason for this is the normalisation of severe menstrual pain, the severity of which is often not believed.

From a young age, women are taught to expect painful, heavy periods. That experiencing severe menstrual pain is nothing noteworthy, but simply part of being a woman.

This systemic normalisation of symptoms, combined with deeply entrenched societal stigma surrounding menstruation – which is regarded as unhygienic and unclean, something to be concealed, not openly discussed – means women anticipate and tolerate heavy pain.

Women are told to “suck it up” and endure pain that interferes with every aspect of their daily lives.

Women and girls learn to hide their pain away, assuming they are overreacting and that their symptoms are normal. Every year, over a million women mask period sick days because they feel unable to tell their boss the true reason.

This means women don’t solicit medical help when they need it. Research shows that less than half of women with severe reproductive health conditions seek help.

When women do seek help, care is often inaccessible and out of reach. Specialist services are left to a postcode lottery. In my own constituency of Ipswich, there is no specialist endometriosis clinic in our Hospital.

Women already living with debilitating pain, who have often waited years for a diagnosis, are forced to travel to access care they desperately need.

Such inequitable provision is emblematic of the historic failure to prioritise women’s health.

It is no coincidence that gynaecology has the largest waiting list of any specialty for working-age adults. As of January 2026, more than half a million women were waiting for gynaecological care.

The human cost is devastating, as untreated endometriosis can profoundly impact someone’s education, career, relationships, fertility and mental health, with 98% of respondents to Endometriosis UK’s recent survey saying the condition impacted their mental health, and nearly two-thirds describing this as significant.

The moral case is obvious, but there is a compelling economic case too.

Absenteeism due to heavy and painful periods, alongside endometriosis, fibroids and ovarian cysts, costs the UK economy an estimated £11 billion every year.

When we came into Government, we pledged to “never again neglect women’s health.”

Honouring that commitment is a moral necessity.

We are investing in research, cutting waiting lists for gynaecology care, and expanding digital services so women can access specialist expertise online more quickly.

We finally have a Government that is taking women’s health seriously, and that gives me hope.

Because we owe it to all women who spent years in excruciating, debilitating pain, were ignored and belittled, who suffered alone. They deserved better.

We cannot let the next generation of women with endometriosis be failed in the same way.

A final note. The BAFTA-winning film ‘This Is Endometriois’ is a deeply moving portrayal of the lived reality of endometriosis, following the story of director Georgie Wileman, who spoke powerfully about her experience and how patients continue to be failed long after diagnosis. Please watch it.