The number of women waiting for gynecology treatment in Northern Ireland has increased by almost 18% in the past 12 months, with 59,733 women currently on waiting lists. This has led to many women experiencing unbearable pain and discomfort, with some waiting up to five years to be seen by a specialist and even longer for surgery.<\/p>\n
One woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, described her experience with endometriosis as "having barbed wire inside me, clinging to my organs." She has been forced to undergo early medical menopause due to the long waiting times for surgery, which has left her feeling angry and frustrated. "I’m only 25 and I’m doing this to my body without choice," she said. "I need surgery to remove the disease, but the waiting lists are too long. I’ve been told there are too many more serious cases ahead."<\/p>\n
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) has stated that the waiting lists for gynecology services in Northern Ireland are "in crisis." The organization has reported that across the UK, a total of 743,312 women are waiting for basic gynecological care. The RCOG has called for faster and more decisive action to support women already waiting and to address the underlying capacity issues causing long delays.<\/p>\n
Women who are waiting for treatment have reported that their lives are being ruined by the chronic pain and discomfort caused by conditions such as endometriosis. One woman, who waited 20 years for a diagnosis, said that her life was "ruined" by the wait. "The pain is chronic \u2013 at one point I was so bloated and couldn\u2019t eat that they thought I had ovarian cancer," she said. "Gynecological problems, and endometriosis in particular, are simply not a priority \u2013 they are debilitating and life-changing, but are simply not taken seriously by the health service."<\/p>\n
The RCOG has stated that 2026 must be a turning point for women waiting for gynecological treatment. The organization is calling for increased investment in gynecology services to address the underlying capacity issues causing long delays. "With the right investment, there is a real opportunity to change this situation for women," said Dr. Alison Wright, president of the RCOG. "By reprioritising the health needs of 51% of the population, we can make a real difference to women\u2019s lives \u2013 ensuring they have access to the high-quality care they need, when they need it."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Women’s Health in Crisis The number of women waiting for gynecology treatment in Northern Ireland has increased by almost 18% in the past 12 months, with 59,733 women currently on waiting lists. This has led to many women experiencing unbearable pain and discomfort, with some waiting up to five years to be seen by a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[21871,4296,6539,7929,3819,3374,19577,580,432,11501,21870],"class_list":{"0":"post-29282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-alison-wright","9":"tag-chronic-pain","10":"tag-endometriosis","11":"tag-gynaecology","12":"tag-menopause","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-ovarian-cancer","15":"tag-pain","16":"tag-rights","17":"tag-royal-college-of-obstetricians-and-gynaecologists","18":"tag-the-woman-who-waited"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29282"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29284,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29282\/revisions\/29284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}