Today the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Women’s Health released a report which confirms that women across the country are not being treated appropriately when it comes to their physical, mental and gynaecological health.
For women who have ever gone to see their doctor about mental health issues, long-term physical problems or ‘women’s problems’ such as endometriosis, fibroids or adverse reactions to hormonal contraception this is hardly news, it’s an everyday reality.
As part of the ‘*Informed Choice? Giving women control *of* their healthcare’* report, the APPG surveyed over 2,600 women and sent freedom of information (FOI) requests to hospital trusts. This revealed that when it comes to problems like fibroids and endometriosis in particular women are experiencing what the group deems to be ‘unacceptable’ treatment. They also found that women are not getting the right diagnosis and information about treatments, with 62 per cent of women they spoke to reporting that they were not satisfied with the information that they were given.
Indeed, it wasn’t just the treatment that was revealed to be problematic but the quality of it. More than 42 per cent of those who responded to their survey saying they did not feel that they had been treated with ‘dignity and respect’.
Pritti Gihair has been going through the wringer of trying to get a diagnosis with what she now knows to be endometriosis since February 2015. She first went to the doctors in what she describes as ‘debilitating pain’ which impacted her ability to both work and socialise. ‘I kept going back to the doctors who did blood tests, urine tests, STI tests, an ultrasound and examined me internally with a camera’ she told The Debrief, but ‘everything came back clear, so each time I was sent home being told I was fine’.
As time went by, she explains, ‘the pain persisted’. She took herself to A&E three times but was just ‘given codeine and told to go home’ because she was not a ‘serious case’. Eventually, she says, she took herself to the Women’s Hospital in Birmingham where she ‘received much sympathy’ but was told she could not be seen without a referral from her GP which she had not been given.
‘The Doctors could clearly see I was in agony’, Pritti says ‘but red tape prevented them from actually doing anything to assist me. It seemed everyone’s hands were tied, especially as my test results were not showing anything glaringly wrong. Without this, I was not even able to get an MRI, which is one clear way to locate the endo cells.’
Eventually, Pritti took matters into her own hands. After being prescribed a Mirena coil which did not prevent flare-ups which, she says, ‘left her practically immobile’ she decided to pay for treatment. ‘I undertook an internship in Mumbai in December 2016’ she says, ‘whilst there I found a senior gynaecologist who had practised in Australia for over 20 years and was an endometriosis expert. Within the week I had had a pelvic MRI, blood tests, urine tests, a colonoscopy and had a clear diagnosis of endometriosis. It is unfortunate that I had to go to those lengths just to be diagnosed and had to pay a fair bit in the process but I am very grateful I have the privilege of being able to do so. I know many women wait years to be diagnosed. My mum had endometriosis and she wasn’t diagnosed for many years, despite visiting the doctors on a monthly basis.’
Pritti does feel that she was let down, partly because nobody knew what to do with her. She also feels that, when she eventually got treatment, the options and potential complications were not properly explained, prompting her to look elsewhere for advice. Nearly 50% of women with fibroids and endometriosis surveyed by the APPG said they were not told about the short term or long term complications from their treatment ad almost 39 per cent did seek a second opinion.
Responding to the report, Emma Cox, CEO of Endometriosis UK told The Debrief: ‘we are delighted to be working with the APPG on Women's Health to raise awareness of endometriosis and related gynaecological conditions, and the severe challenges women face in receiving a diagnosis and treatment. Sadly, the issues highlighted in the report are ones we hear all too often – long delays in diagnosis, women’s symptoms being dismissed or ignored, and lack of clear information about treatment options.’
Cox also notes that despite the damning findings of the report, it also makes it clear how simple steps in education and raising awareness around women’s health issues could make a significant different to women, particularly when it comes to decreasing diagnosis times which, for endometriosis, currently averages 7.5 years. ‘As well as supporting women to access the treatments and support they need’, Cox told the Debrief ‘training doctors would save the NHS money through reduced visits to GPs and treatments for the wrong conditions. Teaching menstrual health in schools is also vital, to ensure girls and women know what a ‘normal’ period is, and what isn’t.’
Paula Sherriff MP, Chair of the APPG, said ‘I was shocked by some of the stories we heard. The group has found that best practice does exist, and there are ways that women should be treated in the NHS. Women should not be dismissed and ignored, they should be referred to appropriate care and then given information and all possible treatment options, and their side effects and complications.’
Going forwards the report sets out the following steps to improve healthcare for women:
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Symptoms and concerns should be taken seriously, and not dismissed and/or ignored;
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Timely referral to appropriate specialist care;
-Offered information about all possible treatment options, and their side effects and complications.
The findings of the report show that this basic standard of care is all too rare, which was reflected in The Debrief’s Mad About The Pill investigation.* The Debrief* surveyed 1,022 women about their hormonal contraception and mental health. Of those women 45% said that they believed that they had experienced mental health problems associated with their contraception, 43% said they had sought medical advice as a result and 55% of those said that they felt their concerns were dismissed by doctors. Women cannot make informed decisions about their health without proper information and, unfortunately, this report confirms that they aren’t being provided with it.
In response to the APPG's report, the Royal College of GPs has said that it will make women's healtha priority' over the coming year.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.