Waiting times for gynaecology appointments have trebled in the past decade, with MPs and healthcare bodies accusing the Conservative Party of “failing women”.
NHS England data shows that in October 2012, the average waiting time to see a gynaecologist was 4.8 weeks. This figure had increased to 15.6 weeks by October 2022, a rise of 225 per cent.
The figures show that 38,231 women have been waiting for longer than a year, while 69 patients have been waiting more than 24 months, The Guardian reports.
Dr Ranee Thakar, the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), said “Women’s health has been consistently deprioritised. Gynaecology waiting times are currently the longest we’ve seen since waiting list targets were introduced, leaving thousands of women with symptoms including extreme pain, heavy menstrual bleeding and incontinence.
“Long waits can result in increased admissions to emergency care, or more complex surgery than had women been able to access non-surgical treatments earlier on or operated on promptly.”
She added that the impact of such waits was having a ripple effect on women’s lives.
“Women with gynaecological conditions are being let down. Many are suffering with both their physical and mental health, impacting on their work, their ability to socialise and their relationships.”
Anneliese Dodds, the shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, said that the Tories were “failing women across the country”.
She said: “The Conservatives’ woeful mismanagement of our NHS is failing women across the country.
“The government keeps blaming the pandemic for rising waiting times, but the truth is ministers have deprioritised women’s health for over a decade – and now women are suffering the consequences.”
The shocking figures come six months after the former president of the RCOG, Dr Edward Morris, said institutionalised gender bias has led to women’s health problems being dismissed as “benign”, leading conditions to be “normalised” by non-specialists and deprioritised within the NHS.
He said: “These conditions cause huge amounts of suffering to women. Being lumped in a topic called benign gynaecology downplays the importance and suffering.
“We have to change the language. We have to call it what it is.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are focused on tackling waiting lists and the number of women waiting over two years has reduced tenfold since the start of the year.
“Patients waiting over 18 weeks for treatment, including those on gynaecology waiting lists, can also receive their care at another hospital.”
