The NHS’s ‘gender health gap’, which leaves women struggling to get good healthcare, has been branded medical misogyny
- Doctors don’t treat men and women equally, says charity Engage Britain
- She adds that they too often underestimate the health problems of the latter
- The association urgently calls for reforms so that women are taken more seriously
- A survey found that 26% of women received no support compared to 17% of men
Women face a greater struggle to receive quality health care NHS because of a culture of “medical misogyny,” a charity claimed yesterday.
According to Engage Britain, doctors do not treat men and women equally and too often ignore women’s health problems.
The charity, which encourages public participation in political decision-making, calls for urgent reforms to take women more seriously.
A survey she commissioned found that 26 percent of women had not received the support they needed to seek treatment in the past five years. But for men it was 17 percent.
And while 29 percent of women had to run after a referral, it was even less for men at 20 percent.
A survey commissioned by the charity found that 26 percent of women had not received the support they needed when seeking treatment in the past five years. But for men it was 17 percent
Women were also more likely to feel “down, stressed or anxious” when they had to wait a long time for an appointment, the survey of 3,027 adults found.
Miriam Levin, program director for health and care at Engage Britain, said: “In 2022 women should be no more struggling than men to get the right help from health workers.
“While women across the country are telling us how grateful they are for the NHS, in the same breath they will say they feel down and anxious at not getting the support they need.
“From needing support during a crisis to dealing with issues like endometriosis, we hear stories of women struggling with the uncertainty of wait times and referrals — and sometimes even feeling fired or neglected by professionals.
“People understand that hard-working NHS staff do their best, but it’s important that patients don’t feel like they’re taking on medical misogyny. We need a whole new approach to helping the NHS recover from the pandemic.
According to Engage Britain, doctors do not treat men and women equally and too often ignore women’s health problems
Sexism has previously been blamed for a disproportionate increase in gynecology waiting lists and deficiencies in hormone replacement therapy prescribing.
The poll found 25 per cent of women were concerned they would not get the NHS care they needed in an emergency, compared with 17 per cent of men.
Dame Lesley Regan, a former President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, was appointed England’s first Women’s Health Ambassador last month to improve equality.
She will support the implementation of the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy, which aims to address the “gender health gap” and ensure services meet the needs of women throughout their lives.
