1,500 consultations at Cork’s regional endo clinic in first year

A Cork consultant said she believes that, in time, most women with endometriosis who live in Ireland will be able to receive their full treatment within the country.

Dr Cathy Burke, Clinical Lead, Endometriosis at the Supra-Regional Endometriosis Centre in Cork, made the comment as the centre reached its first anniversary.

The centre was officially opened in Cork in April, 2025, by the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

The state-of-the-art centre is located at the Lee Clinic on the Lee Road, and is operated by the Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).

The clinic is a key part of the National Endometriosis Framework, which sets out, for the first time, a defined clinical care pathway for women with endometriosis in Ireland.

The clinic in Cork joins another based in Tallaght University Hospital (TUH). These clinics will also be supported by a network of regional endometriosis hub services.

Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside of it. Around one in ten women has endometriosis, though some estimates are as high as one in seven, says Dr Burke.

“According to data in the National Endometriosis Framework document, up to 200,000 Irish women have endometriosis.”

Pain is the dominant symptom of endometriosis, says the Cork consultant.

“The pain most often occurs before and during periods. Endometriosis is more likely when a girl or woman experiences period pain that regularly affects her ability to attend school, college, or work.

“If someone consistently rates their pain as 8 out of 10 or higher (with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain imaginable), endometriosis is likely.”

Historically, it can take as long as nine years to get diagnosed with endometriosis in Ireland. This is due to a number of factors, including misdiagnosis, lack of awareness, and pain during periods being normalised.

Travelling abroad for treatment has also become normalised for many Irish women, due in part to the long waiting lists for treatment here.

But Dr Burke is hopeful that the new Cork clinic (and the one in Tallaght) will mean Irish women will be able to receive treatment at home rather than having to make the trip abroad.

“We believe that in time, apart from a small number of very complex patients, most women with endometriosis who live in Ireland will be able to receive their full treatment within the country. 

"Both Supra-Regional Endometriosis Centres, located in Cork and Tallaght, have strong multidisciplinary teams with the expertise to manage complex and advanced stage endometriosis.

“In Cork, we recently recruited a dedicated bowel surgeon, enabling us to perform a significantly higher number of surgeries for Stage 4 endometriosis. We have also maintained an excellent partnership with our urology surgeons, which will continue.”

There are currently 14 staff members working in the Cork clinic, and Dr Burke says the plan is to recruit a further seven staff in 2026.

“We have received very positive patient feedback so far and plan to launch an official patient satisfaction survey in the next month.”

One major plus for patients attending the Endometriosis Centre is that there is a dedicated suite, she explains. This means that as well as attending endometriosis clinics there, “patients can also access appointments with a physiotherapist, a psychologist, and a consultant specialising in ultrasound assessment for deep endometriosis, all within the same suite.”

In 2025, just under 1,500 endometriosis patient consultations took place in the Cork Endometriosis Centre, and more than 200 endometriosis surgeries were performed on patients attending the clinic’s service. “We are extremely proud of the incredible work carried out by the staff in the Endometriosis Centre, as well as the dedication and commitment shown by the teams on our gynaecology wards and in our operating theatres in CUMH and SIVUH.”

The Cork multi-disciplinary clinic is a vital cog in the wheel of what is becoming a more focused approach to this chronic disease nationally. The centres in Cork and Tallaght are being supported by regional centres in Dublin, Limerick and Galway, which provide care for intermediate complexity endometriosis while local gynaecology services throughout the country manage low complexity cases.

“Our GP colleagues play a vital role nationally, as they are often the first to meet patients. When endometriosis is suspected, GPs can initiate treatment pathways and continue to manage women whose symptoms are stable. This coordinated approach forms part of the National Endometriosis Framework, launched by the Minister for Health in October, 2025.”

For women with endometriosis, the new centre in Cork means they can receive specialist care for their own particular diagnosis.

“Our multidisciplinary team will collaborate to ensure each patient receives the comprehensive, tailored support they need.”

Dr Burke advises any girl or woman who thinks she may have endometriosis to book an appointment with her GP to have a detailed discussion about her symptoms.

“If endometriosis is suspected, her GP can start her on the treatment pathway. At any stage along the pathway, if a treatment is not working for her or she is experiencing a poor quality of life, she should seek another consultation.”

She also recommends reliable sources of information on endometriosis, such as those available on Endo Ireland, and says that an endometriosis guide for patients attending HSE services will be published soon.