Scot Lib Dems to debate proposals to end medical misogyny

At their upcoming spring conference, Scottish Liberal Democrats will debate a motion which calls to end medical misogyny, highlighting the need to improve access to diagnosis and treatment, tackle postcode lotteries and ramp up training and research around women’s healthcare.

Medical misogyny refers to the gender bias or discrimination women can experience when accessing healthcare.

Instances of medical misogyny include the dismissal of pain as “normal”, a lack of research into women’s healthcare and a general lack of understanding among many GPs.

Medical misogyny can lead to longer waiting times for gynaecological care, which have increased by more than 250% over the last seven years in Scotland.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat motion calls on the Scottish Government to:

• Launch a public awareness campaign for both medical professionals and the wider public to remove the stigma faced by women seeking help for their reproductive health.
• Improve access to diagnosis, end dismissal of symptoms and the normalisation of pain faced by women.
• Tackle postcode lotteries of care by enhancing understanding of conditions, including but not limited to, endometriosis, the menopause, polycystic ovary syndrome, hyperemesis and ectopic pregnancies.
• Embed a better understanding within the NHS of the effects of reproductive health conditions on period poverty, women’s mental health and women in the workplace.
• Vastly reduce waiting times for referrals and then treatment, especially in gynaecology and urology.
• Improve training and standards across NHS services in Scotland.
• Increase research into reproductive health over a women’s life course, moving away from the belief that this is a ‘niche’ area.

The motion is part of the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ broader strategy to tackle misogyny and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

The party previously agreed a range of measures to end VAWG and called on the SNP government to implement key domestic abuse protections four years after becoming law.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Christine Jardine MP, who moved the motion, said:

“There are too many women who have effectively been told to put up and shut up when accessing healthcare.

“There is an insidious and entrenched prejudice around women’s pain, and the cost can be devastating. It can lead to conditions being undiagnosed, to misdiagnosis and, ultimately, to an eroding confidence amongst women about the point of reporting symptoms at all.

“The SNP have only added fuel to the fire: by mismanaging our NHS over two decades, they have made it much tougher to deliver the care that women need.

“Progress on the women’s health plan has been slow; ministers need to step up and get on with making plans a reality.

“Women deserve a system that they can trust and depend on. To build that system, we should be moving heaven and earth to increase awareness and understanding of women’s healthcare, ramp up training and research, and end the damaging waits for diagnosis and treatment.”