Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to help women suffering from endometriosis.

Information on endometriosis is readily available to healthcare professionals and the public. Both the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and NHS Choices have published information for the public on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. Further information can be found on the RCOG website:

www.rcog.org.uk/womens-health/clinical-guidance/endometriosis-what-you-need-know

and NHS Choices website:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/Endometriosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx

To support women with endometriosis all obstetricians and gynaecologists have been trained in the diagnosis, investigation and management of the condition, which is specifically listed as a topic in the core curriculum for obstetrics and gynaecology. The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology has published clinical guidelines on the management of women with endometriosis to assist clinicians.

In addition, NHS England has developed a service specification for severe endometriosis under the specialised commissioning area of complex gynaecology. NHS England expects all units providing a service to women with severe endometriosis to provide care which meets the standards laid out in a specification which can be found on their website:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/e10-comp-gynae-endom-0414.pdf