Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
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.
Asked by: Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour - Penrith and Solway)
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)
It is unacceptable that women can wait up to 10 years for an endometriosis diagnosis.Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 shorten the diagnosis period 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 diagnosis times for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis. 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.
Endometriosis is also included in the core curriculum for general practitioners, and for obstetricians and gynaecologists. The General Medical Council is introducing the Medical Licensing Assessment for most incoming doctors, including all medical students graduating from academic year 2024/25 and onwards. Within this assessment are several topics relating to women’s health, including endometriosis. This will encourage a better understanding of endometriosis among doctors as they start their careers in the United Kingdom.
Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management and treatment of endometriosis. This is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce waiting times for an endometriosis diagnosis.
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 diagnosis times for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis.
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.
Endometriosis is also included in the core curriculum for general practitioners, and for obstetricians and gynaecologists. The General Medical Council is introducing the Medical Licensing Assessment for most incoming doctors, including all medical students graduating from academic year 2024/25 and onwards. Within this assessment are several topics relating to women’s health, including endometriosis. This will encourage a better understanding of endometriosis among doctors as they start their careers in the United Kingdom.
Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management and treatment of endometriosis, which are available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce diagnosis times 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 diagnosis times for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis.
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 the piloting of gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres.
Endometriosis is also included in the core curriculum for general practitioners, and for obstetricians and gynaecologists. The General Medical Council is introducing the Medical Licensing Assessment for the majority of incoming doctors, including all medical students graduating from the academic year 2024/25 and onwards. Within this assessment are a number of topics relating to women’s health, including endometriosis. This will encourage a better understanding of endometriosis among doctors as they start their careers in the United Kingdom.
Clinical guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management, and treatment of endometriosis. This is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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.
Feb. 05 2025
Source Page: The impact of an endometriosis diagnosis on monthly employee pay and employee status, England: April 2016 to December 2022Found: The impact of an endometriosis diagnosis on monthly employee pay and employee status, England: April
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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.
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 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.