Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 14
Jo White Urges Faster NHS Endometriosis Care After 30-Year Struggle
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 14

Jo White Urges Faster NHS Endometriosis Care After 30-Year Struggle

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 14

Summary

  • Labour MP Jo White said it took 30 years to get treatment for debilitating periods and blood loss, and urged the NHS to prioritize endometriosis diagnosis and treatment waiting times.
  • One in 10 women in the UK are affected by endometriosis, yet diagnosis still takes an average of nine years, with symptoms often mistaken for other conditions.
  • White welcomed revised NICE guidance calling for women with period-related complaints to be referred for scans quickly, though standard ultrasounds and MRIs do not always detect the disease.
  • £1 million pledged in May through the Women's Health Strategy is aimed at improving menstrual-health education and support, as White said earlier stigma left many women to "just get on with it."

Insights

Why do women of colour wait nearly two years longer for a diagnosis, and how will new NHS reforms address this racial gap?
Could new AI-powered scans finally bypass the medical biases that cause decade-long waits for an endometriosis diagnosis?