Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will set a target time for women to receive treatment from specialist referred services after they first present symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding in primary care.

We recognise the severe impact that heavy menstrual bleeding can have on women and girls, which is why improving care for menstrual problems, including heavy menstrual bleeding, is among our 2024 priorities for the Women’s Health Strategy.

Many women can have heavy menstrual bleeding managed in a general practice and women’s health hubs. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for essential services in the community. One of the core services of women’s health hubs is menstrual problems assessment and treatment, including for women experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding.

Accessing treatment at a health hub can avoid the need for a referral to secondary care, and therefore cut waiting times, one of the Prime Minister’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it. The main standard in elective performance is the referral-to-treatment standard. The NHS Constitution sets out that a minimum of 92% of patients waiting for their first definitive elective treatment, including patients with heavy menstrual bleeding, should have been waiting no more than 18 weeks from referral.