Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Deferred
Paragraph: 79
NHS fails patients during routine reproductive procedures, neglecting duty of care and pain management.
Conclusion
The NHS is failing many patients who undergo routine reproductive healthcare procedures such as hysteroscopy, IUD fitting and cervical screening. In too many cases, we find that a duty of care from gynaecologists and other medical practitioners is absent. Women are being pressured into enduring severe pain and find that they are ignored or belittled by those charged with their care when they cannot. The Women’s Health Strategy for England does not sufficiently prioritise challenging this behaviour.
Government Response Summary
The government did not directly address the concerns about absent duty of care, patients enduring severe pain, or being ignored/belittled during procedures. Instead, it focused on its commitment to cutting waiting lists and reforming elective care through NHS England's plan to meet the 18-week referral-to-treatment standard by March 2029, and highlighted existing programmes like Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT).
Paragraph Reference:
79
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
Cutting waiting lists, including for gynaecology, is an important part of our health mission to build an NHS fit for the future and a top priority for this government. NHS England’s plan on reforming elective care for patients (linked in ‘Introduction’ above) sets out how the NHS will reform elective care services and meet the 18-week referral-to-treatment standard by March 2029. Significant measures in the plan include: empowering patients by: giving them more choice and control establishing the standards that they can expect to make their experience of planned NHS care as smooth, supportive and convenient as possible reforming delivery by working more productively, consistently - and, in many cases, differently - to deliver more elective care. For example, piloting direct-to-test gynaecology pathways in CDCs , such as for patients with post-menopausal bleeding delivering care in the right place to make sure patients receive their care from skilled healthcare professionals in the right setting - for example, through women’s health hubs aligning funding, performance oversight and delivery standards, with: clear responsibilities and incentives for reform robust and regular oversight of performance clear expectations for how elective care will be delivered at a local level actions to tackle health inequalities such as a review of existing national initiatives with the aim of developing them and increasing their uptake - for example, by improving signposting to and accessibility of local patient transport services for patients Additionally, the NHS Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is a clinical improvement programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through: reviews of services benchmarking developing an evidence base to support change Gynaecology is one of the 6 high-volume low-complexity specialties being prioritised through the GIRFT programme. In relation to travel costs, patients may be eligible for either local patient transport services or to reclaim costs through the existing NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme - the scheme allows eligible patients to claim a refund for reasonable travel costs.