Waiting lists for gynaecology appointments across the UK have more than doubled since February 2020, BBC research reveals. Records show around three-quarters of a million (755,046) women's health appointments are waiting to happen - up from 360,400 just before the pandemic. This would suggest around 630,000 people - at the very least - are on the list to be seen for problems that range from fibroids and endometriosis to incontinence and menopause care.
Health ministers across the UK say they are working on plans to improve the situation, but health leaders say that women are being let down. Anna Cooper, 31, from near Wrexham in North Wales, has had severe endometriosis since her teens. The condition - where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside it - has left her with permanent organ damage.
She has had to have 17 operations, including a hysterectomy to remove her womb. She also has two stomas in place for life because much of her bladder and bowel have had to be removed. She lives with her partner and young daughter.
"The disease controls my social life, my work life and my ability to function every day. "It is not just a period problem - it is a whole body problem. It ripples through your body," she says.
The BBC spoke to her in 2023 about setting up her own charity, Menstrual Health Project . A year on, she says she is still in pain and is on the NHS waiting list yet again because she has experienced bleeding after her hysterectomy. Anna wears a morphine pa.
