Almost 900 women on waiting lists for endometriosis care across four hospitals

Michael Bolton

Figures from the HSE reveal that 896 women are on waiting lists for treatment for endometriosis across four hospitals.

In a document seen by BreakingNews.ie, almost 900 women are on waiting lists in the Rotunda, Tallaght University Hospital (TUH), Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), and the Coombe Hospital.

By the end of September, there were 369 women on waiting lists in the Rotuna hospital. 90 of those women are waiting between nine to 12 months for treatment, with 63 waiting over a year.

At TUH, 356 women were on waiting lists for treatment for endometriosis, with the majority, 83 women, waiting between zero and three months for treatment.

74 women are waiting over a year for treatment, while 71 women are waiting between three and six months.

At CUMH, there are 93 women waiting for treatment, with 84 waiting between zero and three months.

By the end of September, there were 78 women on waiting lists at the Coombe hospital, with 44 waiting up to three months.

Endometriosis causes cells, similar to those in the lining of the womb, to grow outside the uterus and can cause a range of symptoms, with some people experiencing chronic, debilitating pain.

It is believed to affect as many as one in seven women in Ireland, and there is no known cure.

Two supra-regional specialist centres have been developed for the management of complex endometriosis, based in TUH and CUMH.

These services will be supported by five regional hubs for moderate cases. Regional services in the Coombe, Rotunda and Limerick are already operational, while the remaining two services are in
the process of being established.

In October, the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeil, said women and girls with endometriosis symptoms will now be treated with the presumption they have the condition.

The minister said this approach recognises that women are “the best narrators of their own symptoms, of their own pain, and we’re trying to change the way in which their voices are heard in relation to endometriosis”.