The Scottish Government has today published Phase Two of the Women’s Health Plan, which will run from 2025-2029.
Gynaecology wait times remain extremely high across Scotland and we know that those with endometriosis often face huge barriers in accessing care. This is a pivotal time for the Scottish Government to ensure these ambitions are turned into reality for the 1.5 million women and those assigned female at birth with endometriosis in the UK.
The Plan includes ambitions shared in Endometriosis UK’s strategy, which has been referenced as part of the Plan.
These ambitions include:
- Ensuring all women and girls in Scotland feel informed, confident and supported in their menstrual health
- Reducing diagnosis times for all menstrual health conditions, including endometriosis
- Working with partners to promote the use of existing guidelines, education and other tools on pelvic pain, irregular periods and heavy menstrual bleeding in primary care, to support the timely diagnosis and management of menstrual health conditions including fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis and PCOS
- Ensuring timely access to gynaecology care, with a commitment to drive down gynaecology waiting times through the development of a National Gynaecology Plan. This will initially focus on addressing waiting times challenges, and move towards sustainable change to re-design and improve gynaecology services across Scotland
- Building knowledge and understanding of menstrual health symptoms and conditions, including endometriosis and adenomyosis, at an earlier age
We look forward to reviewing the Plan further and working closely with the Scottish Government to ensure the Plan is properly implemented.
