Horror state of women's NHS care exposed - as BBC host 'screamed place down' at painful procedure

In a searing report, the Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee hit out at 'medical misogyny' and a lack of education resulting in women suffering for years across the country

Women and girls are being left to “suck it up” as they endure excruciating pain from reproductive health conditions on a day-to-day basis, MPs have warned.

In a searing report, the Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee hit out at “medical misogyny” and a lack of education resulting in women suffering for years across the country. It said those experiencing endometriosis, adenomyosis and heavy menstrual bleeding are frequently finding their symptoms “normalised” and their “pain dismissed”.

Many women told MPs they have given up their jobs or careers, or have lost relationships or hopes for a family due to the agony of their conditions. Others have become addicted to painkillers, while some have contemplated taking their own lives.

The committee also warned that many who do get treatment are undergoing traumatic and severely painful “routine” procedures, including having a contraceptive coil fitted, cervical screening, or a hysteroscopy - a test to look inside a woman's womb. One woman said her hysteroscopy myomectomy “was the most horrendous experience of my life”. “It was painful and undignified,” she said. “I was having metal instruments being forced through my cervix. After the procedure I could not stop crying.”

The committee also heard from high-profile figures, including BBC presenter Naga Munchetty, who was diagnosed with adenomyosis at age 47 - a condition where the lining of the uterus starts growing into the muscle in the wall of the womb. She said she has suffered for decades with heavy bleeding and nausea, passing out and throwing up every period. She said she was told this was "normal" for 32 years of her life.

The TV figure said she feared leaking through her clothes while on camera and described how having an IUD (intrauterine device, or coil) fitted caused her to “scream the place down” due to the trauma involved. She said a lack of treatment options for adenomyosis, other than hysterectomy or contraception, leave women who do not want or are not able to have these to “suck it up”.

In the report, women reported not feeling listened to and being “gaslit”, especially when accessing NHS services about a gynaecological issue that included pain. The report found people of African descent in particular are more likely to report having their pain dismissed or minimised by medical practitioners, despite research suggesting that chronic pelvic pain is highly prevalent in Black British women.

It added: “Research has also shown that racial biases in healthcare lead to practitioners believing that Black people have a different pain threshold than other ethnic groups. This is wholly unacceptable and dangerous.”

NHS gynaecology waiting lists are also growing faster than any other speciality - and have been since before the pandemic. Damning research last month showed waiting lists for gynaecology appointments across the UK have more than doubled since February 2020. Research into women’s reproductive health conditions also lags behind other similarly prevalent conditions.

Labour MP and committee chairwoman Sarah Owen said the report “must act as a wake-up call”. “Our inquiry has shown misogyny in medicine is leaving women in pain and their conditions undiagnosed,” she said.

“Women are finding their symptoms dismissed, are waiting years for life changing treatment and in too many cases are being put through trauma-inducing procedures. All the while, their conditions worsen and become more complicated to treat.”

An NHS England spokesman said: "Too often in the NHS we hear of women whose health concerns have been dismissed, which is why we are taking action to improve services for women, including rolling out women's health hubs across the country.”