Waiting for a way forward

Overview

Following on from our 2022 report Left For Too Long, the RCOG undertook research to understand the ongoing impact of gynaecology waiting times on women. We also spoke to healthcare professionals across the system to deepen our understanding of the barriers and solutions to addressing gynaecology waiting lists.

We found that as a result of long waiting times, many women were living with increasingly complex conditions and severe symptoms. A quarter of women who responded to our survey reported that they had attended A&E as a result of their symptoms, with more than 1 in 10 of those women going on to have emergency interventions, such as blood transfusions. Professionals across primary and secondary care said they were deeply concerned for women waiting, but often felt helpless at not being able to expedite waits.

Following on from the publication of the RCOG’s Waiting for a Way Forward report in 2024, the picture remains deeply concerning as we enter 2026. With nearly three quarters of a million women across the UK still waiting for essential gynaecology care, we have released an updated assessment of progress. The report urges the UK Government to go further and faster in addressing the growing crisis in waiting lists.

Key recommendations

A way forward is urgently needed for women waiting and the healthcare professionals delivering care. We are calling on governments across the UK to fund and deliver comprehensive support to urgently improve care for women waiting now. This should include ensuring access to free products to manage symptoms and improving communication, information and advice. Health services also need additional resources to increase capacity and training time in gynaecology and deliver initiatives to improve care, so they can expedite long waits.

The UK Government must also deliver for the future by addressing systemic issues and ensure that every woman in the UK can access high-quality gynaecology care when and where they need it. This includes the equitable and sustainable expansion of Women’s Health Hubs, retention and recruitment of the gynaecology workforce and increasing the levels of funding allocated to health across the UK, including in the devolved nations. 

Data dashboard: visualising the crisis

Our Elective Recovery Tracker was developed in partnership with LCP Health Analytics. It provides a powerful visualisation of the size, scale and nature of waits in gynaecology services across the UK, bringing together the publicly available datasets in one place for the first time.

This tool aims to support both patients and health professionals in advocating for sustainable changes in women’s healthcare, demonstrating to national and local policy makers the challenge facing gynaecology services.

Download the full reports

Theramex has provided funding to support the production of this report. Theramex has had no input into the editorial content or the final article.  The views and opinions of contributors are not necessarily those of Theramex.

If you have any questions about the report, dashboard or data within it, please email pressoffice@rcog.org.uk.