Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing levels of research into the (a) causes of and (b) treatment pathways for endometriosis.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research delivery arm of the Department, funds and supports a range of research to support women’s health conditions, including endometriosis. These awards seek to improve outcomes for women with endometriosis by better understanding the condition, enabling earlier diagnosis, and evaluating current and emerging treatment options.

Ongoing NIHR funded research includes a £2.1 million trial to look at the effectiveness of keyhole surgery to treat endometriosis, with a new £2.4 million NIHR funded research programme on pain management for endometriosis due to start in March 2026. Further information on both of these studies is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR129801

https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR169738

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into endometriosis. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.