Four-year wait for surgery? How NHS chaos leaves women in crippling pain
The SNP seems more interested in fighting women’s rights groups over single-sex spaces than in sorting out the NHS’s problems
One-in-three women will experience a reproductive or gynaecological health problem at some point in their lives – yet only around 2 per cent of publicly funded research spend was dedicated solely to reproductive health and childbirth. This fact was included in the Scottish Government’s first Women’s Health Plan in 2021.
At the time, women’s health campaigners hoped the plan would be a transformational step in addressing some of these longstanding inequalities. Five years on, though, the report’s key recommendations have disappointingly not been met.
The SNP has wasted time and energy fighting women’s rights groups over its flawed policies on single-sex spaces instead of delivering for women.
READ MORE: A pregnant mother in labour and wandering Inverness streets at night sums up the SNP's NHS
Women left in limbo
This is particularly true when it comes to NHS waiting lists. Analysis by Scottish Labour has revealed there are currently a staggering 4,652 ongoing waits of over a year for gynaecology treatment. Among women waiting for inpatient gynaecology services, almost one in five have been waiting more than a year.
One woman in NHS Lanarkshire waited more than four years for a hysterectomy – surgery used to treat a range of women’s health conditions when other treatment options have failed, including cancer – while there were similar waits in NHS Tayside and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Behind these statistics are women in limbo, often in crippling pain. And while not all women will give birth, those who do often find themselves relying on NHS services like never before. Yet recent maternity inspections uncovered women waiting as long as 62 hours to be induced, due to a lack of staff.
The inequalities in women’s health should be addressed for reasons of principle alone but there are also hard-headed reasons for doing so. Early screening for cervical cancer saves lives and avoids more expensive and intrusive treatment later down the line.
Providing support for women with the menopause helps them stay in work, rather than taking early retirement and dropping out of the workforce. And providing the right support with pregnancy and maternity not only allows women to have healthy and less traumatic experiences of giving birth, but sets up the next generation to flourish as well.
What Labour would do
That’s why Scottish Labour’s Women’s Manifesto, unveiled on Monday, will give women’s health the attention it deserves. Scottish Labour has pledged to tackle the long waits for gynaecological procedures, and we will also provide menopause clinics in every health board region, so women can access the support, advice and medical interventions they need.
We will deliver safe maternity services in every part of Scotland, with a national plan to drive improvements where services have fallen short, and ensure women can access quality maternity care. We will protect women’s reproductive rights, ensuring they are able to access the full range of reproductive services, no matter where they live.
And we will recommit the NHS to delivering single-sex wards on the basis of biological sex, and ensuring patients can request same-sex provision wherever possible.
Too often, women have to battle to be taken seriously. Scottish Labour will fix the SNP’s mess and make sure the services women rely on are fit for purpose. Women are more than half the population – a Scottish Labour government will build an NHS that works for everyone.
Jackie Baillie is Scottish Labour's candidate for Dumbarton Constituency, deputy party leader and spokesperson for health and social care
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