The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has called for urgent government funding for women’s health and care in the UK, as research shows gynaecology waiting lists have doubled since 2020. 

A new report, published this week by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) finds that three quarters of a million (755,046) women across the UK are now waiting for gynaecology treatment— enough to fill Wembley stadium eight times over.

Waiting lists have increased by a third since 2022 and additional BBC research shows they are now almost double that of 2020. Just before the pandemic 360,400 women were waiting for treatment.

But this is only the tip of the iceberg, according to the RCOG, which believes thousands more are waiting for other forms of care, including diagnostic tests to confirm their condition. 

In order to track the state of gynaecological care in the UK, the RCOG collaborated with LCP Health Analytics, to develop an Elective Recovery Tracker tool, bringing together publicly available datasets in one place for the first time. It also surveyed over 2,000 affected women and over 300 healthcare professionals. 

A quarter of women reported that they had attended A&E as a result of their symptoms, with more than 1 in 10 of those going on to have emergency interventions. 

Over three quarters (76 per cent) of women waiting for care reported worsening mental health and over two thirds (69 per cent) reported being unable to take part in daily activities including work.

Healthcare professionals also reported being deeply concerned for their patients and the majority of primary (65 per cent) and secondary care clinicians (69 per cent) surveyed reported their own health and wellbeing has been affected by managing pressure in their clinics. 

Additionally, over 90 per cent of primary care professionals reported a severe impact on general practice due to longer waits for hospital gynaecology services. 

“No part of life left untouched”

Kerry Briggs, a patient in her early 50s from near Manchester, has been waiting for treatment for fibroids since January 2023. 

“During this time, I’ve experienced severe bleeding, back pain, hip pain and had to manage challenging symptoms of anaemia as a result of my blood loss,” she says.

“The anxiety I’ve felt whilst waiting has been all encompassing. I can’t book anything in advance and I feel completely stuck in the house. If you don’t have cancer, your condition is given less urgency and importance but there is no part of my life left untouched by this. It has to be taken more seriously.” 

Meanwhile, India Weir, 27 from near Edinburgh has also been on and off waiting lists since being diagnosed with endometriosis in 2017. She is currently waiting for surgery to manage my deep infiltrating endometriosis and ovarian cysts.

“Physically, being in pain every single day takes a huge toll on me whilst I have to get on with day-to-day life. Also, living with the uncertainty of when I’ll undergo surgery makes it hard to plan ahead,” India says. 

“It impacts every part of my life and my quality of life. My relationships, friendships, social life, career and mental health are all affected – and my condition is getting worse without treatment and relevant care.”

A way forward?

The RCOG’s Waiting for a way forward report, funded by Theramex, sets out recommendations for the government to support patients and healthcare professionals now, while improving the future of women’s health and care. 

This includes increasing the amount of funding for health services, considering targeted funding to expedite the longest waits, and providing resources to protect gynaecology services against operational pressures.

The government is also urged to consider building on existing digital initiatives, such as the Elective Recovery Tracker, expanding data collection and to commit to ring-fenced funding to enable research, patient participation, innovation and pilots to improve understanding and experiences of gynaecology.

The Elective Recovery Tracker provides regular updates on the backlog in gynaecology elective care and provides visualisations of the size, scale and nature of waits in gynaecology services across the UK.

According to Rebecca Sloan, Women’s health lead at LCP Health Analytics: “The analysis should help healthcare professionals and policymakers to identify where additional resources and focus is likely to have the greatest impact on patient outcomes and health inequalities.”

Last week the Women and Equalities Select Committee continued an inquiry on Women’s Reproductive Health Conditions, which looked at how the NHS can leverage femtech to improve treatment and care. 

Dr Sue Mann, the first National Clinical Director for Women’s Health at NHS England and a consultant and lead for women’s health in City and Hackney, North East London, highlighted the importance of “keeping pace” with innovation in women’s health, but said the NHS must “get better” at producing its own digital information too. 

Innovative pathways for gynaecology 

However, the NHS can also tap into existing “innovative pathways” such as telemedicine to reduce waiting lists, according to some experts, who say many of the needs of those waiting could be met outside of acute hospital care. 

Kat James, director of new projects at the telemedicine company, Consultant Connect, told Femtech World: “There is a history of women’s health being ignored and 750,000 patients waiting for hospital treatment is worrying. The truth is that a large majority of these women do not need hospital-based care, if only the right virtual and community-based alternatives were available.

“Face-to-face hospital-based care is the right place for those that need acute care, but for many conditions, often in the context of menopause related symptoms, community care is the faster way to help women. And this includes innovative pathways like telemedicine, where a patient can be given an immediate treatment plan without having to set foot into a physical healthcare setting.”

Consultant Connect runs a network of NHS consultants who review gynaecology referrals remotely, virtually triaging thousands for NHS trusts around the country. Its data shows that around one third to half of gynaecological referrals don’t need to be on hospital waiting lists. 

“On average 30-40 per cent of patients receive treatment plans written up by ‘virtual’ NHS gynaecologists that their GPs can enact immediately, and another large cohort is directed to community-based care like women’s’ hubs if available in their area,” explains James.

“Not only does this deliver faster care, but also reduces stress, anxiety and unnecessary time of work, childcare and travel that comes with months long waits and hospital appointments.”

Long-term funding and investment

Commenting on the latest figures, leaders from the RCOG, as well as the Royal College of GPs have called on the government to act “urgently” to tackle the UK’s “gynaecology care crisis” with “long-term sustained funding”.

Dr Ranee Thakar, president of the RCOG, said: “A way forward is urgently needed to tackle the UK gynaecology crisis. Our new report shows too many women are waiting too long with serious conditions that can devastate their lives. NHS staff are also deeply concerned and distressed that they do not have the necessary resources to deliver good care, affecting their own wellbeing.

“UK governments must act now. The RCOG is calling on them to commit to long-term, sustained funding to address the systemic issues driving waiting lists, alongside delivering an urgent support package for those currently on waiting lists.

“This investment will not only benefit thousands of individual women but the wider economy too, because the evidence shows that healthy women are the cornerstone of healthy societies. Get it right for women and everyone benefits.”