The systemic under-prioritisation of women’s health, described by medical leaders as “medical misogyny,” is creating unprecedented delays for gynaecological care, with hundreds of thousands of women left in pain and a struggling workforce pushed to breaking point.
The scale of the crisis
In England alone, at least 565,134 women were waiting for gynaecology services as of January 2026, a figure that has more than doubled from over 279,000 in 2019. Across the entire UK, the gynaecology waiting list stood at 743,312 women by December 2025, having barely shifted in over a year. The speciality now has the fifth highest waiting list in the country, despite women making up 51% of the population.
Performance against core NHS targets is among the worst of any field. Only 56% of women in England are seen within the 18-week target to start treatment, compared to nearly 62% across all elective specialities. Over 18,000 women in England had been waiting more than a year for an appointment by January 2026. This is occurring as demand rockets; referrals for gynaecology services in England grew by approximately 24% between October 2024-25 compared to a pre-pandemic period.
A system failing to listen
Dr Alison Wright, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), states that a culture of “medical misogyny” is at the heart of the problem. “Women are not prioritised as they should be across the board, including when it comes to the health service,” she said. This systemic bias manifests in tangible ways: Dr Wright cited how robots were introduced “very quickly” for male urology surgery while gynaecologists had to “jump through hoops” for the same technology, and how a testicular torsion is treated as an emergency while a twisted ovary may not be.
This environment leads to women’s symptoms being routinely dismissed. A Mumsnet survey found 58% of women believe the NHS is institutionally misogynistic, with 68% feeling it does not take their health concerns seriously. Half of women report being dismissed, ignored, or not believed by NHS professionals due to their sex, and 64% have been told their pain or symptoms were “normal” or “in their head.”
The consequences are severe, particularly for conditions like endometriosis. According to Endometriosis UK, women now wait an average of 9 years and 4 months for a diagnosis, up from 8 years in 2020. For ethnically diverse communities, this extends to 11 years on average. Nearly half of those with the condition visit their GP 10 or more times before diagnosis. A report from Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, chaired by Labour MP Sarah Owen, concluded there was a “clear lack of awareness” of women’s health among practitioners and that women were being left to “suck it up.”
From clinic queues to A&E
The failure of routine care is cascading into emergency departments. Emergency admissions for gynaecology soared from 162,000 in March 2020 to 196,000 in March 2025. The RCOG states that a quarter of women presenting to A&E with gynaecological issues are already on an elective waiting list.
“We’re seeing women in A&E who really should be seen in gynaecological clinics… presenting with acute symptoms such as anaemia or in need of blood transfusions when the condition is getting worse,” Dr Wright explained. She noted that women with fibroids and endometriosis should not need emergency care, but are attending due to long waits. Alarmingly, 55% of people with endometriosis symptoms have attended A&E, with 46% of those sent home without treatment.
A burnt-out workforce in a vicious cycle
The system is buckling under the strain, with staff burnout both a cause and a symptom of the crisis. Obstetrics and gynaecology is a high-stress field where 72% of doctors met burnout criteria in 2022, up from 36% pre-pandemic. A 2025 RCOG survey found 65% at risk of burnout, with 80% of trainee doctors affected. Nearly a fifth intend to leave the profession within five years.
Dr Wright warned of a “vicious circle,” where burnt-out staff are less able to deliver the care they wish to provide, fuelling further frustration. “The system currently is not allowing that to happen, and we think that’s one of the contributors to burnout… not being able to deliver care [they would like to],” she said.
Paths to a solution
Amid the crisis, models for improvement exist. Women’s Health Hubs, which integrate services like contraception, menopause care, and gynaecology, show significant promise. A pilot hub in Tower Hamlets found that of 3,500 women referred, only 25% needed hospital care, down from a previous rate of 85%. The RCOG states such models could reduce secondary care referrals by almost half, with potential national savings of £430 million.
However, their national rollout faces challenges including fragmented commissioning, workforce shortages, and funding issues. Most UK areas lacked an identified hub in a 2022-23 study.
The government’s upcoming renewed Women’s Health Strategy, to be unveiled by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, is seen as a critical opportunity. Mr Streeting has pledged to give “women the power to kick medical misogyny where it hurts: the bank balance.” The RCOG is calling for the strategy to drive urgent investment in the workforce and protect and expand Women’s Health Hubs.
Any solution must also address stark inequalities within the system. The RCOG has highlighted that Black and Asian women on gynaecology waiting lists face longer waits than their white counterparts, a point underscored by the Women and Equalities Committee’s finding that medical misogyny intersects with racism. Community-led charities, such as Cysters founded by Neelam Heera-Shergill, work to support those from ethnically diverse backgrounds facing these compounded barriers.
