Dismissive treatment of patients with endometriosis
HUNDREDS of thousands of women with a painful womb condition are left to cope without specialised care and are often dismissed as imagining their symptoms, according to a British report.
About 40% of those with endometriosis, a chronic condition suffered by 2 million UK women, visit their GP 10 times before they are referred to a specialist, it reveals.
For 10% of women it takes 15 years of seeking help to receive a diagnosis, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women’s Health.
Interviews with 2 600 women who have suffered with endometriosis, or fibroids, reveal many doctors do not take their complaints seriously.
Endometriosis arises when cells usually found in the womb lining attach themselves to other parts of the pelvic area, causing scar tissue, pain and inflammation. Fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the uterus.
Women are often told the problem is “all in the head” or that their symptoms are “just period pain”, the MPs say.
Others are wrongly told the only treatment option is to have a hysterectomy, removing their womb and ending their chance of having children.
Paula Sherriff, an MP who chairs the all-party group, said women suffer “outrageous” treatment.
One affected woman told the report’s authors: “I was dismissed by my GP so many times over so many years that I started to even doubt myself.”
Another woman said: “The first GP I saw fobbed me off, saying ‘periods are painful’. At this point I was passing out due to pain.”
A third woman said: “I was often made to feel it was all in my head and that my symptoms were caused by stress and irritable bowel syndrome.”
One in 10 women of childbearing age suffer from endometriosis. National Health Service guidelines say anyone suspected of having the condition should be considered for referral to a gynaecologist. Any woman who asks for a referral should be given one.
The condition can be managed with hormone medication or by surgically removing endometrial tissue. A drastic option is to have a hysterectomy, a procedure undertaken by 29 000 women a year.
But the report says too many are told to do this without considering other options.
Sherriff said: “The statistics in this report show that women are all too often dismissed by healthcare professionals when discussing their symptoms and choices.
“The fact that almost 50% of women did not feel that they were treated with dignity and respect is appalling.”
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs often find themselves in a difficult position as the symptoms are so broad, and some are similar to other conditions, and so can only refer if they think endometriosis might be the underlying cause, or else secondary care would be unable to cope with demand.” – Daily Mail