Health is a devolved matter in Scotland, meaning that decisions about health policy are made by the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament. Endometriosis UK works closely alongside the Scottish Government, Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), and Scotland based MPs to raise awareness and drive change for the 1.5 million women and those assigned female at birth with endometriosis in Scotland.
We support the work of Government and MSPs in a number of ways, including by:
- Setting up meetings for politicians to meet with people affected by endometriosis
- Providing advice on constituency casework
- Providing communication support including social media assets and template press releases
- Providing case studies and briefings ahead of debates or speeches
- Providing draft Questions to raise with Ministers on endometriosis
- Providing tailored briefings on specific topics relating to endometriosis
- Supporting service visits
- Linking Endometriosis UK Support Groups with their MSP and/or MP
We are also members of a Sub Group on Menopause and Menstrual Health including Endometriosis, which has provided input to the development of the Women's Health Plan for Scotland, released in August 2021. We are now working with Scottish government officials on the implementation of the plan.
We also have support groups in Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife, the Scottish Borders, Caithness and Sutherland, Edinburgh and Glasgow who provide support and drive positive change for those with endometriosis in Scotland. Find out more about our support groups here
Campaign with us
- Sign our petition calling for compulsary menstrual wellbeing education in Scotland
- Share your story
- Ask your employer to become an Endometriosis Friendly Employer
- Distribute our leaflets
Our key asks of the Scottish Government
- Faster diagnosis - Reducing diagnosis time for endometriosis to an average of four years by 2025 and under 1 year by 2030. Currently it takes on average a shocking 8.5 years to get a diagnosis in Scotland. This was addressed in the 2021 Women's Health Plan.
- Ensure a baseline in endometriosis care - Ensuring everyone with endometriosis in Scotland gets access to care and support in line with NICE guidance. This was addressed in the 2021 Women's Health Plan.
- Menstrual wellbeing education - Mandatory age-appropriate menstrual wellbeing education in all Scottish primary and secondary schools.
The Government's work so far
In 2021, the Scottish Government produced a Women's Health Plan, which among other matters, addressed endometriosis diagnosis and care. Endometriosis UK is working with the Scottish Government on implementation of the commitments on endometriosis.
In Scotland, three endometriosis specialist centres exist and were planned to provide specialist endometriosis coverage for the whole of Scotland. However, these are currently being commissioned as local services and for local capacity, and it has been difficult to get a referral if you live in a different health board area. For some, this can mean no access to specialist treatment even if suffering from deep endometriosis.
The Scottish Governments 2019 – 2020 Programme for Government Women’s Health Plan, work being led by the Chief Medical Officer’s Directorate of the Scottish Government, is currently considering the funding of the three specialist endometriosis centres in Scotland to provide a national service, along with reducing diagnosis time, improved care pathways, and improving menstrual health and endometriosis care throughout Scotland.
