From contaminated blood to birth trauma, how female NHS patients’ concerns are ignored

Pregnant woman and new mothers raising concerns have been labelled ‘anxious’ in notes by healthcare professionals. Photograph: David Jones/PA

England’s patient safety commissioner, Henrietta Hughes, has warned that NHS patients raising concerns are too often “gaslighted”, “fobbed off” or dismissed as “difficult women”.

“It shows a very dismissive and very old fashioned, patronising attitude to patients who have identified problems and need to have their voices heard,” she said.