Women are waiting too long for care because of “medical misogyny” within the NHS, the UK’s top gynaecologist has warned.
Dr Alison Wright, president of the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (RCOG), warned that women’s health conditions are often prioritised differently to men’s, with chronic and debilitating conditions such as endometriosis not being given the attention they deserve.
She also warned that A&E was being clogged up with women who need emergency treatment because they are waiting too long for routine procedures.
Speaking to The Independent ahead of the government’s new health plan for women, due to be published by the health secretary Wes Streeting on Wednesday, she said: “Misogyny exists across society... sadly, I’m having to say this in 2026.
“Women are not prioritised as they should be across the board, including when it comes to the health service. We, as gynaecologists, often have to really push for women to get a place in the operating theatre.”
She added: “An example [a colleague] gave me recently was of a man who had a testicular torsion, which is often treated as an emergency and taken to the operating room very quickly.
“Whereas, when a woman has a similar equivalent of torsion of her ovary, it’s not always treated as an emergency in the same way.”
Dr Wright claimed that robots were brought into hospitals “very quickly” for male urology surgery, while gynaecologists had to “jump through hoops” for the same technology.
Figures show that as of January 2026, at least 565,134 women were waiting for gynaecology services in England, up from more than 279,000 in 2019.
Just 56 per cent of women are being seen within the national NHS target to start treatment within 18 weeks of a referral – one of the worst performances of any speciality.
Waiting lists for gynaecology in England are the fifth highest of any speciality, although women represent 51 per cent of society.
Meanwhile, emergency admissions for women within gynaecology have soared from 162,000 in March 2020 to 196,000 in March 2025.
Dr Wright said women are having to go to A&E for emergency care, such as blood transfusions, while not receiving proper treatment as a result of the long wait.
According to a report from RCOG in 2024, a quarter of women surveyed said they had attended A&E as a result of their symptoms.
She said: “We’re seeing women in A&E who really should be seen in gynaecological clinics, and this means that they are presenting [to emergency departments] with acute symptoms such as anaemia or in need of blood transfusions when the condition is getting worse.”
She added that women with conditions such as fibroids and endometriosis should not need A&E, but they are attending due to long waiting lists.
The top gynaecologist explained that these conditions have historically been dealt with in the NHS as “benign”, despite them being chronic and debilitating conditions. A recent report from Endometriosis UK revealed that women are waiting almost 10 years for a diagnosis for their conditions.
“I’m talking a lot about fibroids and endometriosis because they are the things that we really worry about at the moment in terms of gynaecology waiting lists that need specialists,” she said.
“These conditions are advancing, and that’s my concern. These people should not be having to present to A&E. But there are also increasing numbers of women now with gynaecological cancers who are being diagnosed in A&E.”
A report from the Women and Equalities Committee of MPs concluded that women face “medical misogyny” and are being left to “suck it up” and endure pain for years because of a lack of awareness of women’s health conditions.
‘Vicious cycle’
Dr Wright warned that medical experts were facing huge challenges to overcome the issue.
“We are working tirelessly to try to do our best to listen to women. We’ve heard loud and clear that historically, collectively, women have not been heard, and we are really absolutely committed to making sure that we listen to women. But that is quite challenging in the current system,” she said.
According to a recent survey of gynaecologists by RCOG, 80 per cent showed signs of burnout.
Dr Wright said: “That’s quite worrying to me – not only in terms of the wellbeing of the workforce, but also if they are burnt out, it manifests itself in terms of care for women. What we’re seeing is a vicious circle where our members are really keen to do more for women in this situation, both to speed up the work of their waiting list, but also to care better for women on the waiting list.
“But the system currently is not allowing that to happen, and we think that’s one of the contributors to burnout and frustration and pressures on the staff, not being able to deliver care [they would like to].”
Health secretary Wes Streeting is due to unveil a renewed Women’s Health Strategy on Wednesday. He alluded to the policy in a speech in March, saying he was going to give “women the power to kick medical misogyny where it hurts: the bank balance”.
Dr Wright said the upcoming national plan from the government will give the NHS the opportunity to reprioritise women’s health.
She called for the introduction of women’s health hubs, which can combine GPs, specialist gynaecologists and sexual health specialists, to which women can be referred, without the need for hospital treatment.
One women’s health hub in Tower Hamlets, opened in December 2023, showed that of the 3,500 women referred by December 2024, only 25 per cent needed hospital care. Before this, 85 per cent of women needing specialist gynaecology care were seen in hospital.
Previous research by RCOG also revealed that within gynaecology waiting lists, there are further inequalities for Black and Asian women who are left waiting longer than their white counterparts.
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