Carol Nolan urges rapid overhaul of endometriosis care
Carol Nolan spoke in support of a motion on endometriosis, urging urgent increases in support and faster diagnostic pathways for women affected. She backed measures including multidisciplinary centres of excellence, fast-track referral systems and a fully budgeted public awareness campaign.
She welcomed visitors to the gallery and said the motion addresses the frustration and chronic pain that too many women endure. Citing extensive correspondence and calls from constituents, she said endometriosis is having major consequences for women's physical, mental and emotional health and is creating real pain around fertility issues.
She proposed strengthening the multidisciplinary care framework with clear implementation timelines and suggested mandating at least two fully staffed endometriosis centres of excellence within 24 months. Each centre would include gynaecologists, radiologists, pain specialists, psychologists and fertility experts, with annual funding allocations and embedded patient advocates to ensure care meets real-world needs.
She argued for expanding and fast-tracking the referral system and warned that ending primary care's diagnostic responsibility requires a robust, timely replacement. She suggested a nationwide fast-track referral pathway within 12 months, with suspected cases referred to specialists within four weeks, supported by mandatory GP training using tools like the Endometriosis UK symptoms diary. She cited Australia's national action plan as a model, saying it cut diagnostic times by 30 per cent.
She called for a fully budgeted three-year public awareness campaign launching within six months, with target metrics and direct community engagement. The campaign would target schools, workplaces and community groups to educate on endometriosis symptoms, challenge stigma and signal support for women who are undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or lack post-surgical and psychological care.
Support and urgency
She welcomed visitors to the gallery and said the motion addresses the frustration and chronic pain that too many women endure. Citing extensive correspondence and calls from constituents, she said endometriosis is having major consequences for women's physical, mental and emotional health and is creating real pain around fertility issues.
Centres of excellence
She proposed strengthening the multidisciplinary care framework with clear implementation timelines and suggested mandating at least two fully staffed endometriosis centres of excellence within 24 months. Each centre would include gynaecologists, radiologists, pain specialists, psychologists and fertility experts, with annual funding allocations and embedded patient advocates to ensure care meets real-world needs.
Referral pathways and GP training
She argued for expanding and fast-tracking the referral system and warned that ending primary care's diagnostic responsibility requires a robust, timely replacement. She suggested a nationwide fast-track referral pathway within 12 months, with suspected cases referred to specialists within four weeks, supported by mandatory GP training using tools like the Endometriosis UK symptoms diary. She cited Australia's national action plan as a model, saying it cut diagnostic times by 30 per cent.
Public awareness campaign
She called for a fully budgeted three-year public awareness campaign launching within six months, with target metrics and direct community engagement. The campaign would target schools, workplaces and community groups to educate on endometriosis symptoms, challenge stigma and signal support for women who are undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or lack post-surgical and psychological care.
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Transcript
a timely motion and it is there to address the frustration and the chronic pain that too many women have to endure unnecessarily. I want to welcome the visitors to the gallery here tonight, it is great to have you all here, you should not need to be here because this is an issue that should have been addressed long before now, but I certainly will be supporting the motion and I feel that we urgently need to rapidly increase the level of support and the diagnostic pathways for women experiencing endometriosis. I know from the vast amount of correspondence and calls that I have received from many women in my constituency that this issue is having major consequences in terms of women's physical, mental, emotional health and that it is also creating real pain around fertility issues for many women. There is a lot of frustration there, there is a lot of upset, there is a lot of anger and I think that tonight should be the start of a change of direction and we need to send out a message of support and we certainly need to change the way we do things and we need to ensure that there is a sensors of excellence for women and that this diagnosis is obviously this condition is diagnosed firstly in a timely manner and that women are supported. What I would like to see specifically is a strengthening of the multidisciplinary care framework with clear implementation timelines. Perhaps we could consider mandating the establishment of at least two fully staffed endometriosis centres of excellence within 24 months, each with a multidisciplinary team including gynaecologists, radiologists, pain specialists, psychologists and fertility experts. While I note that the motion did not specify annual funding allocations, I think we need to do that in order to ensure sustainability into the future. Additionally, embedding patient advocates in the planning process would ensure that centres address real-world patient needs such as psychological support and post-surgical care. It is so important that every approach, particularly in relation to this condition, every approach we take must be patient-centred and informed by women themselves. I do agree that we urgently need to expand and fast-track the referral system with primary care training. While the motion's proposal to end primary care's diagnostic responsibility is critical, it requires a robust and timely replacement system. And perhaps we should look at mandating a nationwide fast-track referral pathway within 12 months, ensuring that women with suspected endometriosis are referred to specialists within four weeks of presenting with symptoms. The stories that I'm hearing is that women are enduring this for years and years and that it has greatly impacted upon their lives. That's unacceptable. I think it's reasonable that the referral to specialists and that it is a timely process. It has to be, and I think that's something that needs to be improved on and can be improved on fairly quickly. This system should be supported by mandatory training for general practitioners on recognising endometriosis symptoms, using tools like Endometriosis UK symptoms diary to standardise assessments. I'm aware that Australia's national action plan for endometriosis has cut diagnostic times by 30 per cent through similar reforms, so certainly that's a model that could be used here. There is no doubt that we need to introduce an enhanced public awareness campaign with target metrics and community engagement and direct engagement from the women themselves that are affected. A fully budgeted three-year campaign launching within six months targeting schools, workplaces and community groups to educate on endometriosis symptoms and the challenges would be a start and obviously challenging the whole stigma. I think that that would send out a message of support to so many women who are not being given firstly a diagnosis or support regarding their symptoms or they are being misdiagnosed in some cases, but I think it would show that we support them and we would send that message through a campaign.