Endometriosis

The Government acknowledges the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce.

We are committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for endometriosis. It is unacceptable that women can wait so long for an endometriosis diagnosis and we are taking action to address this.

The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy, published in April, identifies endometriosis as a priority condition, where women experience unacceptably long delays to diagnosis, pain being dismissed, and fragmented care.

The strategy commits to speeding up diagnosis and access to treatment for conditions including endometriosis by;

• announcing the investment of an additional £1 million for a new programme to improve education for girls about their menstrual health, and helping them to know when to seek treatment;

• redesigning clinical pathways for heavy periods to reduce repeat appointments, unnecessary referrals, and long waits;

• supporting integrated care boards to introduce single points of access for gynaecology referrals; and

• supporting a shift away from hospital-only care towards neighbourhood community settings.

NHS England is developing a national pelvic pain pathway including endometriosis care for local systems to adapt. This is in addition to pathways on the menopause, heavy menstrual, and urogynaecology. These pathways set out how care should be organised and delivered across self-management, primary care, intermediate, and secondary care services. Systems will be encouraged to adopt these standard pathways as part of implementing a Single Point of Access for gynaecology services and the establishment of more specialist services in the community to complement hospital care. This will help women to get care in the right place more quickly, and will ensure that women who need complex care, such as those with endometriosis, can get this in a timelier way.