Gynaecology
The impact of the gynaecology care crisis
A new report published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has revealed the true scale and impact of the UK’s gynaecology care crisis, with over three quarters of a million (763,694) waiting for months and years with serious gynaecological conditions.
According to the RCOG, the number of women waiting for hospital gynaecology services would fill Wembley stadium eight times over. More women are also now requiring emergency care to manage severe symptoms, with gynaecology emergency admissions in England increasing by a third (33%) between 2021 and 2024. For the new report, Waiting for a way forward:
Voices of women and healthcare professionals at the centre of the gynaecology care crisis,1 the RCOG surveyed over 2000 affected women and over 300 healthcare professionals to fully understand the impact of the care crisis. Over three quarters (76%) of women waiting for care reported worsening mental health and over two thirds (69%) reported being unable to take part in daily activities including work. Healthcare professionals reported being deeply concerned for their patients and the majority of primary (65%) and secondary care clinicians (69%) surveyed reported their own health and wellbeing has been affected by managing pressure in their clinics. Additionally, over 90% of primary care
professionals reported a severe impact on general practice due to longer waits for hospital gynaecology services. The report states that the root causes of the
crisis in gynaecology care are “undoubtedly a combination of both NHS-wide long-term issues and specific challenges experienced by gynaecology as a specialty.” RCOG says that funding, including the levels
set across the UK, the short-termism of recent decisions and the lack of sufficient funding for NHS workforce and core infrastructure like estates, is at the heart of capacity issues. However, the continued lack of prioritisation of women’s health by Government – and gynaecology by extension – explains why gynaecology is so challenged as a specialty. It points out that gynaecology has historically been perceived as less important in wider elective recovery, and this has resulted in an increasing number of complex cases, disease
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progression, emergency admissions and women living in pain and distress: all of which are preventable.
The human impact During research for the report, many women mentioned intense pain and discomfort as a result of their gynaecological conditions and symptoms. Exhaustion, breathlessness, dizziness, anaemia and extensive blood loss as well as incontinence, difficulty walking, pelvic infections and flooding were commonly experienced. Women talked about regularly bleeding through their clothes, needing to be in close proximity to a toilet, feeling isolated and being unable to carry out their ‘normal’ lives due to physical pain. Some women said they struggled to work their full-time hours – they were either already struggling financially or concerned about whether
they could afford to reduce their hours despite feeling deeply unwell. One woman commented that if she had been single, she would have been ‘financially destitute and homeless’.
Naomi’s story The report outlines the human impact of living with gynaecological conditions – sharing the experiences of a number of women who have been significantly impacted by delays to their care. Naomi, for example, has experienced heavy painful periods for the past 10-12 years of her life. Even after ultrasound investigations in 2013 and 2015, her symptoms were dismissed as ‘normal’. In January this year, after waiting years for scans, Naomi was diagnosed with adenomyosis. After her formal diagnosis earlier this year, Naomi’s symptoms significantly worsened, and she experienced severe swelling and pain in her stomach that spread to under
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