Nearly 800 Still Waiting For Endometriosis Care In Ireland

Imagine having to deal with unbearable and chronic pain every month? Imagine if you were told it was a disease that could take nearly a decade to diagnose – and finally once you had answers, you were told it would be another few years to wait for treatment? For hundreds of Irish women with endometriosis, that is the reality right now.

New figures show that nearly 800 women in Ireland are currently on a wait list for endometriosis surgery – with roughly 175 women waiting three to six months to get seen. On top of this, women are waiting nine years to be diagnosed with the condition.

The Endometriosis Association of Ireland reported that due to the extreme wait times, women have had to go abroad to the likes of England, Romania and even the US, to undergo this surgery.

@rtenews A teenager from Dublin who says she had ‘no other option’ other than to seek treatment in Romania for endometriosis, has kept a video diary of her experience. 18-year-old Nikita Clarke said she documented her journey to a clinic in Bucharest “so that other girls can look at it and see what it’s like”. In Ireland, up to one in ten women live with endometriosis, a debilitating gynaecological condition. The Government has said it is committed to expanding endometriosis services in Ireland. 📲 #endometriosis #rte #news #ireland #irish ♬ original sound – RTÉ News

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition, where tissue that is similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, often on ovaries, fallopian tubes, or pelvic tissue.

This condition affects 155,000 women in Ireland and can have debilitating effects on their lives. Some women report that days are often spent in bed with crippling pain, having to miss days at work or school, and even having a negative effect on their social life. Most women agree that standard medication has little to no effect in relieving pain. This leaves them feeling isolated and fighting this battle alone, month in and month out.

When speaking to RTÉ about the startling new figures announced, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said that women have been failed by the Irish health system due to a lack of funding and understanding of the care and treatment that is needed to help.

Ms. Carroll MacNeill also addressed the issue of women seeking treatment abroad, saying that it was disappointing and unacceptable. She vowed to know exactly how many women have had to go abroad and how many more are expected to go.

So, the question is – what supports are currently available to women in Ireland that are suffering? And unfortunately, the reality is that not much has been done or is available for them.

via Pexels

In 2023, then Health Minister Stephan Donnelly announced that a framework for endometriosis would be introduced. This framework said it would create regional hubs for care, 2 main hubs in Cork and Dublin, and Right Care, Right Place, Right Time would be used when creating these supports.

However, two years on, and there is little to show for this framework, with it yet to be published. The only positive move forward it seems was the opening of a new endometriosis centre back in April this year, which has already been receiving hundreds of patients across Ireland.

It is also hoped that a new medication recently approved in the UK could soon make its way over here. The new pill named Ryeqo, or Relugolix combination therapy, was approved by medical experts, and is said to have promising relief for women. Ryeqo works by blocking specific hormones that may contribute to endometriosis and only needs to be taken once daily. This is a major step in the right direction for women across the UK, who have been denied access to medical care for endometriosis.

While Ireland is still very far behind, we can only hope that medication like this, along with proper support and care will be delivered to the women of Ireland soon and finally put an end to the suffering – because after all, this is not just a bad period, it’s a whole body disease.

Words by Emily Molloy