Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase understanding amongst employers of endometriosis and its impact on people affected.

The Women’s Health Strategy sets out ambitions that health conditions and disabilities are no longer a barrier to women’s participation in the workplace. It also sets out our ambitions for tackling taboos, including endometriosis, that can surround women’s health in the workplace, and for improving support for employers and colleagues.

As part of the Health and Wellbeing Fund 2022-25, the Department of Health and Social Care has awarded almost £2 million across 16 organisations to provide a holistic support offer to assist women with reproductive health issues, including menstrual health and gynaecological conditions, to remain in or return to the workplace. Additionally, the Equality Hub is working with employers to identify existing support on women’s reproductive health in the workplace and, in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care, is building peer networks to promote good practice.

The Government’s Women’s Health Ambassador is focused on raising the profile for women’s health and supporting implementation of the strategy, including breaking down the stigma surrounding particular areas of women’s health, including endometriosis.