Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure fertility preservation for endometriosis patients is given parity with those who have ovarian removal for (a) cancer and (b) other causes.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for funding decisions for health services in England, based on the clinical needs of the local population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment and preservation in England.
NICE’s fertility guidelines currently includes those people with cancer who wish to preserve fertility. NICE is reviewing its fertility guidelines and will consider whether its recommendations for access to National Health Service-funded treatment and preservation are still appropriate. We expect that this review will be published in 2024.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve maternity healthcare for women with endometriosis.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England is committed to ensuring all women have a personalised care and support plan in place to explore the management of their health and wellbeing. These plans aim to identify and agree the appropriate personal maternity care for women with endometriosis.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NICE on the potential merits of producing guidance on the use of (a) Orlissa, (b) Visanne and (c) other endometriosis drugs.
Answered by Will Quince
There have been no recent discussions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. All new medicines are routinely considered through the established topic selection arrangements for the development of NICE’s guidance.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of endometriosis among the public.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Women’s Health Strategy for England set out that gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis, are a priority area. We have appointed Professor Dame Lesley Regan as the Women’s Health Ambassador for England, who will focus on raising the profile for women’s health and increasing awareness.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) entitled Endometriosis: diagnosis and management, NG73, published on 6 September 2017, if he will hold discussions with NICE on (a) reviewing and (b) updating that guidance to help improve (i) the (A) pharmacological and (B) non-pharmacological approaches for pain management, (ii) care pathways for endometriosis outside the pelvic cavity and (iii) mental health support.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body responsible for its published guidelines. NICE’s guideline on the diagnosis and management of endometriosis includes recommendations on pharmacological pain management and organisation of care. It also states that women with suspected or confirmed endometriosis should be provided with information and support that takes into account their psychosexual and emotional needs.
NICE updated this guideline in 2021 to highlight that people with endometriosis outside the pelvic cavity should be referred to a specialist endometriosis centre. In light of the continued interest in this topic, NICE is currently reviewing its guideline to determine whether it should be updated.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to make mental health support available for women with endometriosis.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
Access to mental health services is based on clinical need. We are investing at least an additional £2.3 billion a year in mental health services by 2023/24 to allow an additional two million people to receive mental health support.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline on endometriosis was published in 2017. Section 1.2 of the guideline includes information and support on mental health. NICE recognises that endometriosis can have a significant physical, sexual, psychological and social impact and those with endometriosis may have complex needs and require long-term support. The guideline recommends assessment of individual circumstances, symptoms, priorities, desire for fertility, aspects of daily living, work and study, cultural background and physical, psychosexual and emotional needs.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) improve access to pain management for people with endometriosis and (b) ensure endometriosis is recognised by NICE as a chronic pain condition.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
The Women’s Health Strategy for England, published in July 2022, highlighted menstrual health and gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis, as a priority area and states the ambition to improve the experience of care for women and girls with severe endometriosis.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline on endometriosis make recommendations on pharmacological pain management, including analgesics, neuromodulators and neuropathic pain treatments and hormonal treatments. The NICE guideline ‘Endometriosis: diagnosis and management’ is available at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73
NHS England is reviewing the service specification for severe endometriosis and a working group will report the outcome in 2023. This will ensure that specialist endometriosis services have access to the recent evidence and advice and improve standards of care for women with severe endometriosis.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to establish care pathways for endometriosis outside the pelvic area, including thoracic endometriosis.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
NHS England is reviewing the service specification for severe endometriosis, including care pathways for thoracic endometriosis and expects to report on the outcome in 2023. This will ensure that specialist endometriosis services have access to the most recent evidence and advice and improve standards of care for women with severe endometriosis.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline on endometriosis was published in 2017. In December 2021, NICE amended the section on referral for women with suspected or confirmed endometriosis to highlight that women with endometriosis outside the pelvic cavity should be referred to a specialist endometriosis centre. NICE is undertaking a further review of its guideline and will consider any further updates.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the evidence provided to the Women's Health Strategy for England on endometriosis diagnosis and treatment, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of a change in the service specification for severe endometriosis on diagnosis rates and access to treatment for that condition.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
NHS England is reviewing the service specification for severe endometriosis and its impact will be considered through the overall service specification review methodology. The working group will report on this review in 2023.
Service specifications define the standards of care expected from organisations commissioned by NHS England to provide specialist care. This update will ensure that specialist endometriosis services have access to current evidence and advice and improve standards of care.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to amend the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for endometriosis on (a) pain management, (b) mental health and (c) endometriosis outside the pelvic cavity.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body responsible for whether its published guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence or emerging issues not in the scope of the original guideline.
NICE’s guideline ‘Endometriosis: diagnosis and management’, published in 2017, includes recommendations on pharmacological pain management and organisation of care. It recommends that those patients with suspected or confirmed endometriosis should be provided with information and support that takes into account their psychosexual and emotional needs. NICE amended the guideline in 2021 to highlight that those with endometriosis outside the pelvic cavity should be referred to a specialist endometriosis centre. NICE is undertaking a further review of its guideline to determine whether it should be updated. As part of this review, NICE is considering whether diagnosing and managing thoracic endometriosis is a priority area.