Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve early diagnosis of endometriosis.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, and we are making progress to ensure that women with endometriosis receive a timely diagnosis and effective treatment.

Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated its guideline on the diagnosis and management of endometriosis. This includes updated recommendations that for women with symptoms of endometriosis, initial pharmacological treatment should take place in primary care, and that this can take place in parallel with additional investigations and referral to secondary care if needed. This will help women receive more timely treatment. The guideline is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73

We have taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan. In gynaecology, the plan supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home, and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres. Alongside the plan we published a new partnership agreement between the National Health Service and the independent sector, which will help cut gynaecology waiting lists faster.

Additionally, to provide quicker access for patients to common surgical hub procedures such as a laparoscopy, which can be used to diagnose and treat endometriosis, we have committed to opening 17 new and expanded surgical hubs by June 2025 and ramping up the number of hubs over the next three years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce times for the diagnosis of endometriosis.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, and we are making progress in ensuring that women with endometriosis receive timely and effective treatment.

Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated its guideline on the diagnosis and management of endometriosis. This includes updated recommendations that, for women with symptoms of endometriosis, initial pharmacological treatment should take place in primary care, and that this can take place in parallel with additional investigations and referral to secondary care if needed. This will help women receive more timely treatment. The guideline is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73

We have taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan. In gynaecology, the plan supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home, as well as the piloting of gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres. Alongside the plan, we published a new partnership agreement between the NHS and the independent sector, which will help cut gynaecology waiting lists faster.

Additionally, to provide quicker access for patients to common surgical hub procedures such as a laparoscopy, which can be used to diagnose and treat endometriosis, we have committed to opening 17 new and expanded surgical hubs by June 2025, and ramping up the number of hubs over the next three years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the current average diagnosis time for endometriosis.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an update to the guideline on endometriosis diagnosis and management in November 2024. This makes firmer recommendations for healthcare professionals on referral and investigations for women with suspected endometriosis, which will help women receive a diagnosis and treatment more quickly.

For many women with symptoms of endometriosis, initial pharmacological treatment takes place in primary care and can be in parallel with a referral for further investigations. As a result, looking at diagnosis times alone is unlikely to be the only measure of whether women are receiving care for endometriosis in a timely matter. NHS England is looking into metrics that best reflect timely access to care and outcomes for women, including for endometriosis. This work will explore whether time to diagnosis is the optimum measure.

An ongoing study by the Office for National Statistics is investigating the impact of endometriosis on women's labour market outcomes. One component of this study is linking primary and secondary care data to better understand diagnosis times for endometriosis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support women diagnosed with endometriosis in (a) Liverpool and (b) England.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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

Women in Liverpool experiencing symptoms of endometriosis should see their general practitioner (GP) for an initial consultation. GPs across Liverpool can refer women to the endometriosis pathway. Liverpool women’s health hubs also provide care for menstrual problems such as heavy bleeding, which can be a symptom of endometriosis.

NHS Liverpool is also contributing to the North East and West of England endometriosis transformation programme. This programme is addressing long waits for patients with severe endometriosis and improving patient pathways, from presentation in general practice through to management in secondary care.

In England, we have taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan. For gynaecology, the Plan supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home, and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres. Women’s health hubs also have a key role in shifting care out of hospitals and reducing gynaecology waiting lists.

Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an update to the guideline on endometriosis diagnosis and management in November 2024. This makes firmer recommendations for healthcare professionals on referral and investigations for women with suspected endometriosis, which will help women receive a diagnosis and treatment more quickly. The guideline is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure accurate recording of a presumed diagnosis of endometriosis in primary care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

General practices are expected to follow National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidance for the treatment and management of clinical conditions, as part of meeting the reasonable needs of patients. The NICE guidance on endometriosis is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73?UID=83951178202532511728

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time taken to diagnose endometriosis was in each of the last five years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This data is not held centrally. The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the care for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an update to the guideline on endometriosis diagnosis and management in November 2024. This makes firmer recommendations for healthcare professionals on referrals and investigations for women with suspected endometriosis, which will help women receive a diagnosis and treatment more quickly.

For many women with symptoms of endometriosis, the initial pharmacological treatment takes place in primary care and can be in parallel with a referral for further investigations. As a result, looking at diagnosis times alone is unlikely to be the only measure of whether women are receiving care for endometriosis in a timely matter. NHS England is looking into metrics that best reflect the timely access to care and outcomes for women, including for endometriosis. This work will explore whether time to diagnosis is the optimum measure.

An ongoing Office for National Statistics investigation is looking into the impact of endometriosis on women's labour market outcomes. One component of this study is linking primary and secondary care data to better understand diagnosis times for endometriosis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department uses to monitor endometriosis diagnosis waiting times.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Found: initial management (2019) NICE guideline NG126 • Pancreatitis (2018) NICE guideline NG104 • Endometriosis: diagnosis

Found: that, for the purpose of managing conflicts of interest, the matters under discussion were endometriosis diagnosis

Found: initial management (2019) NICE guideline NG126 • Pancreatitis (2018) NICE guideline NG104 • Endometriosis: diagnosis

Found: Related NICE recommendations Related NICE Guidelines: Endometriosis: diagnosis and management (2017

Found: Related NICE recommendations Related NICE Guidelines: Endometriosis: diagnosis and management (2017

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to improve endometriosis diagnosis, in light of reports that the number of women waiting over 12 weeks for gynaecology testing has increased by over 43,000.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The 2025-26 Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for Health and Social Care, including almost £200 million to reduce waiting lists and improve flow through hospitals. Gynaecology will be targeted as a key priority area for additional funding.

We are committed to ensuring those living with endometriosis are able to access the best possible care and support and that they benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Endometriosis is one of the key priorities in the Women’s Health Plan and will continue to be so. Timely access to gynaecology services will also be a priority as we continue to develop the next phase of our Women’s Health Plan, which we aim to publish in 2025.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress on reducing endometriosis diagnosis waiting times, and when it will publish data on this.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

Through the actions in our Women’s Health Plan we have taken steps to support both women and health professionals to learn more about endometriosis, the symptoms and treatment options, so that waiting times for diagnosis can improve.

This includes the development of an Endometriosis Care Pathway for NHS Scotland; funding the development of educational resources for healthcare professionals and our Women’s Health Platform on NHS Inform which aims to provide women with the information and tools they need to make informed decisions about their health.

The Women’s Health Plan highlights the need to improve the data on women’s health. That is why we published the Women’s Health Plan Data Landscape Review in November 2024. Improving data on women’s health and on endometriosis will continue to be a priority as we develop the next phase of the Women’s Health Plan.

Information about the progress to date against each of the priorities in the Women’s Health Plan can be found in the Women’s Health Plan Final Report.