Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make assessment of the adequacy of diagnosis times for endometriosis.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, the NICE published updated recommendations on the diagnosis and management of endometriosis. This will help women to receive a diagnosis more quickly.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission and we are urgently looking into waiting times for gynaecological issues, including for endometriosis. We are committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment within our first term, and this includes those waiting for endometriosis diagnosis. To achieve this, we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, which is the equivalent to 40,000 per week, as a first step. With over 115,000 women referred onto the waiting list each month since the start of the year, this urgent work will help the nearly 600,000 women on gynaecology waiting lists get the medical care they need.