March marks Endometriosis Action Month.
Dr Hussain, critical of Welsh Government’s ever-changing pattern of subsequent strategies, but little progress, has met women’s health campaigners testifying their endometriosis experiences, against a national backdrop of diagnostic delays averaging at 9 years 11 months – Britain’s poorest performance.
Equally, Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board’s 48.6% of prospective patients facing 26 week waits before getting an appointment is utterly unacceptable – campaigners call for an average time to fall under 12 months by 2030 which would end experiences of frustration given symptoms still manifest in women’s quotidian lives pre-diagnosis though they lack formalised support services.
Raising in Siambr:
Trefnydd, I would like to request an oral statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care outlining what the women’s health implementation group actually achieved before being disbanded in 2024, as well as an update on its replacement, the women’s health strategic network. I’m alarmed at the testimonies of women who experience endometriosis, living not just in my region of South Wales West, but broadly within Wales. At an event hosted by Endometriosis UK & Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales, I heard first-hand how frustrated many women were with an average diagnosis of nine years, 11 months, which is compounded by the fact that waits before receiving an appointment are utterly unacceptable. We are forcing women to live for years in horrendous pain.
Dr Hussain believes GPs must display an adequate level of aptitude at treating these gender-specific conditions compassionately as a part of doctor’s obligations to treat health holistically. Equally, only one nurse per 14,760 currently constitutes a patchy postcode lottery of specialist staff. Endometriosis UK & FTWW noting that typically, “there will be no provision in case of absence across most health boards”. Dr Hussain is insistent; Wales’s Women’s Health Plan requires an appropriate level of government-backed investment into strategic steps alongside an NHS workforce plan prioritising recruiting sustainable staffing (as announced by Conservative-led Ministers within Westminster, previously.)
Furthermore, with women experiencing endometriosis currently costing £11 billion pounds per year estimated by NHS Confederation Women’s Health Economics (2024) it is imperative employers are aware. Dr Hussain was alarmed at sufferers saying they don’t feel fully supported seeking reasonable adjustments as their talents are assets. Britain’s economically struggling situation cannot tolerate this level of avoidable absence at a time that every extra £1 invested into Gynaecology & Obstetrics translates to est. £11 return on investment – Wales’s women’s health strategies should focus on person-centred support since we know all aspects of life are affected.
Dr Hussain has since said: “Too often, unacceptably, women’s health conditions appear afterthoughts by NHS-related clinical commissioning – Wales’s women deserve better than this!”
WATCH: Women wait years in pain for gender-specific clinical care
