New treatment abroad scheme for endometriosis patients

More than 100 additional surgeries will be carried out in the coming months to combat waiting times for women living with endometriosis, health officials have announced.

Launching Ireland’s first National Endometriosis Framework, HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster said that a new interim scheme will also be established to allow more women access treatment abroad.

Figures released last month showed 747 women on waiting lists for endometriosis surgery in Ireland, with 313 waiting for between three and 12 months.

A total of 226 women travelled abroad for gynaecology procedures under both the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive and the Northern Ireland-planned Healthcare Scheme last year.

However, this new development is expected to open up further options for women to access care from outside of Ireland.

“As part of Ireland’s first National Framework for the Management of Endometriosis, we are making a commitment to improving access to surgical care for women affected by the condition across the country,” said Mr Gloster.

“Over the coming months, the HSE will deliver more than 100 additional surgeries, significantly improving access to treatment for those who have been waiting.

“To further expand capacity, we are recruiting an additional colorectal surgeon to support more complex procedures and setting up an Endometriosis Surgery Abroad Interim Scheme to operate in parallel with services in Ireland.

“This new scheme is a targeted response to the urgent need for timely surgical intervention for women with moderate to severe endometriosis, while domestic services are further developed and scaled up under the National Endometriosis Framework.”

The framework establishes for the first time a defined clinical care pathway for women and girls living with endometriosis. The guidelines includes the principle of presumed diagnosis, proposing that a woman presenting with symptoms should be treated on the presumption that she has endometriosis.

Moderate endometriosis cases will be treated in five regional specialist centres. Three centres are already established in the Rotunda Hospital, the Coombe Hospital, and University Hospital Limerick, with two more in development at University Hospital Galway and the National Maternity Hospital.

Complex cases will be referred to two supra-regional centres in Tallaght University Hospital and Cork University Maternity Hospital.

Dr Cliona Murphy

“This Endometriosis Framework has been the culmination of years of work by committed clinicians and advocates in this country. We are one of few countries who have such a document,” said Dr Cliona Murphy, clinical director of the HSE’s National Women and Infants Health Programme.

“The framework provides a structured approach to help clinicians provide quality clinical care for women dealing with this difficult condition.

“Much progress has occurred in this space, and this is a roadmap for future improvements. We hope to build on this framework to reduce diagnostic and wait times and raise awareness of the available services.”

Under new plans to treat the condition, international endometriosis experts will be invited to collaborate and engage with Irish clinicians to improve treatment options, build expertise and share learnings.

Health officials will communicate with all GPs, consultants and other clinicians to raise awareness of endometriosis in their clinical assessments, while a national awareness campaign around menstrual health will begin early next year.

“Endometriosis has long been an under-recognised and under-treated condition, but progress is now being made in raising awareness and enhancing our services,” said Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

“The HSE, the Department of Health and the clinical community are working as one to improve in a dedicated and sustained way how we support and treat women with endometriosis.”