Leading on from the findings documented in its previous report, Left for too long, the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG) has commissioned new primary research to assist the public’s understanding of the size and impact of gynaecology waiting times on UK women across the system.
Waiting lists for gynaecology in the UK have reportedly increased by a third since 2022, meaning three-quarters of a million women across the UK are now waiting for gynaecology treatment, and thousands more likely to be waiting for other care, including diagnostic tests or essential follow-up treatment.
Continuing their essential research for those impacted by lengthy waits, the RCOG exposed further the continued and worsening impact on women’s lives, especially those in constant, chronic, and debilitating pain, who are left struggling to manage worsening physical and mental health symptoms.
The college also revealed that a staggering quarter of all women it surveyed for the report had attended A&E because of their symptoms, with more than one in ten going on to require emergency interventions, such as blood and iron transfusions. “Chronic waiting times are directly preventing women from living their lives to the fullest. Not only is this deeply unfair to women, but it impacts all of us, given women’s integral contributions to wider society and the economy.”
Professionals across the system are now expressing their anxieties and frustration for patients, emphasising the “moral injury and helplessness” they feel because of not being able to decrease waiting times or offer the level of care they want to provide, and cite a severe lack of capacity and resources as being a large contributor to the issue.
In its recent follow-up report, the RCOG went on to divulge how the root causes of the crisis in gynaecology care are notably a combination of both NHS-wide long-term issues and the specific challenges experienced by gynaecology as a field of medicine.
This includes funding, the short-termism of recent decisions, and the lack of sufficient funding for the NHS workforce. “The continued lack of prioritisation of women’s health by Government explains why gynaecology is so challenged as a speciality.”
System-wide issues and the crisis in gynaecology have also left professionals at every level with little time to receive or provide training, leading to further present and future risks in how the NHS deliver high-quality gynaecology care.
The RCOG are now imploring the UK government to assist with the following:
- Continued promotion of and expanded schemes that facilitate free access to products that help to alleviate such problems as incontinence or heavy menstrual bleeding.
- Prioritisation of improving communication with women waiting for gynaecological treatment, including more transparency around waiting times.
- The expansion of accessible advice available at a national level and displayed on NHS websites in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Direct relevant systems and local leads to produce easy-to-read and bespoke summaries of what local networks and resources are available to those waiting on gynaecology lists so they can access additional support in their local communities too.
Source: rcog.shorthandstories.com
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One of our clinical negligence partners, Nicola Evans, said “I have been following this evolving crisis for years through my own personal interest and the clients I have acted for”. Nicola is currently advising a family who lost their mother and partner, a professor at a local University, to a pulmonary embolism which developed due to a lack of care within the hospital setting on an emergency attendance. A hospital to which she had attended many times with the same gynaecological issue, was waiting further investigation, which continued to provide no answers to her condition. Before her death as part of her emergency admission a scan identified a tumour. Sadly, that tumour could never be treated or clinically diagnosed as it was too late for this patient. Had the professor been provided with treatment earlier she would have been able to spend time with her family, manage her condition and be in significantly less pain. Nicola said “this is just one example of the tragedy that delays in providing gynaecological care can create”.
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