Local MP has pledged support for those suffering with endometriosis

Former Shadow health spokesperson Justin Madders, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, was among those who attended a Parliamentary reception hosted by Endometriosis UK.

Diagnosis times for a condition which makes life miserable for as many a 1.5 million UK women are taking longer and longer, MPs have been told.

He pledged support for those suffering with endometriosis after new data showed diagnosis times in the UK have significantly worsened over the last three years, increasing to an average of eight years and 10 months.

Mr Madders said:

“Endometriosis affects 1.5million women in the UK, and can have a significant, sometimes devastating impact on all aspects of life. Despite this, it is a disease that is widely unheard of and without awareness, the pain and symptoms of endometriosis can be dismissed or brushed aside as ‘normal’."

“Without a diagnosis, treatment can’t be accessed and the disease may progress. Now is the time to reverse the trend and take real steps forward in driving down diagnosis times for endometriosis.”

Key findings of the latest endometriosis report include:

• Almost half of all respondents (47%) had visited their GP 10 or more times with symptoms prior to receiving a diagnosis, and 70% had visited five times or more.
• Only 10% of respondents reported that GPs mentioned they suspected endometriosis at either their first or second appointment where symptoms were discussed.
• 52% had visited A&E at least once, and fewer than a fifth of those (17%) were referred to gynaecology at their first visit. 26% of respondents visited A&E 3 or more times with symptoms prior to diagnosis.
• 20% reported seeing a gynaecologist 10 or more times before being diagnosed.