Debate contribution: Endometriosis Care

Debate contribution by Mr Philip McGuigan on 29 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Philip McGuigan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

29 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Endometriosis Care

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5139442

Read the official Assembly record

Text

It is estimated that endometriosis affects one in 10 women and girls, which is higher than the number affected by diabetes. I know that everybody has used that statistic in their contribution. I was going to take it out of mine, but it does no harm to reiterate how common the condition is in women and girls across the island. To be honest, until I moved to the Committee for Health in February, I knew little or nothing about it. It is important that debates such as this highlight not only the exact nature of the condition but, more important, what needs to be done to help the women and girls across the island who are suffering. I listened to Sinéad, and I heard Naomi Long on social media last night. Their contributions and those of the individuals whose words Linda read out are vital to the conversation, with women and girls identifying for themselves the exact nature of the condition, how it has affected them and the barriers to treatment and living a full life. For many years, many of them have been dismissed or misdiagnosed and, in some cases, have had no option but to borrow or spend money to access the tests and treatment that they needed to manage the debilitating and chronic condition. As others have said, most wait almost a decade for a proper diagnosis. That is absolutely unacceptable and points to a wider systemic failure in women's healthcare. I welcome the debate on the motion that we have tabled. I also welcome the Alliance amendment calling on the Minister to urgently bring forward the women's health action plan. As we have heard, endometriosis can have a profound impact on every aspect of a woman's life — work, education and relationships — and has implications for organ health and fertility. The lack of awareness and expertise in the area does not just delay diagnosis but adds to the mental and emotional toll of living with constant pain and uncertainty. We understand that many of the symptoms can vary and overlap with other conditions and that there are limited non-invasive diagnostic methods. That is why it is vital that we have a sufficient number of trained professionals who understand the condition and can provide timely referrals, proper imaging, speedy treatment and aftercare pathways — not the painkillers-and-platitudes approach that many women who have shared their stories have experienced. International best practice is clear: specialist-led excision surgery delivered through a multidisciplinary model of care gives women and girls the best chance of having a good, pain-free quality of life. I welcome the Minister's recognition that women's healthcare must be given more focus and the fact that work is under way to reduce waiting times and develop a standardised regional pathway for patients with diagnoses of minor, intermediate or severe endometriosis. We also welcome the establishment of the regional Health and Social Care (HSC) gynaecology services forum, which oversees the implementation of the Getting It Right First Time report. I ask Minister to provide in his response an update on the progress of the recommendations in the report. To be clear, there is a need for urgency. According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' elective care recovery tracker, there are close to 60,000 patients on the gynae waiting list, with 32,000 of them waiting for more than 52 weeks. We can all acknowledge the challenges in our health service, but women cannot continue to be failed. This is about meeting a basic healthcare need and, as my party colleague rightly said, about fairness and dignity. Medical professionals who want to specialise in the condition must, where possible, be supported to undertake additional specialist training, but, ultimately, we need to see progress beyond reports and recommendations. We need to see the delivery and action that women and girls across the island deserve.

645 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:18 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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