Dr. Peter McKenna:

One would hope that the vast majority of them are living with relatively minor issues but there can be very serious life-changing conditions. The most obvious gynaecological issue is women who have incapacitating menorrhagia who are anaemic. It is possibly due to large fibroids. It can be difficult to get prioritised for surgery because there is no doubt that benign gynaecology has been seen in the past as a soft target for cancellation when accident and emergency departments get busy. There needs to be greater emphasis on day case surgery, outpatient investigations and the ability to operate on those few patients who need full hospital care.