Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the findings of the report The prevalence of endometriosis in adolescents with pelvic pain: a systematic review, published in July 2020 in the Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, that one in ten girls may have endometriosis; and whether he plans to introduce a target to reduce the average waiting time for a diagnosis of endometriosis.

The Government is aware of and sympathises with the hardships faced by women who experience severe symptoms from conditions such as endometriosis.

There is currently no plan to introduce a target to reduce the average waiting time for a diagnosis. NHS England advises that women with symptoms suggestive of endometriosis may undergo diagnostic and/or operative laparoscopy, a minimally invasive procedure carried out by a gynaecologist on referral. This is the only way to confirm a diagnosis of endometriosis.