Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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765. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department can conduct a report into the treatment of women living with severe endometriosis in the workplace given the difficulties they may have in holding down a full-time job; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6573/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Improving women’s health outcomes is a key priority for me and this Government. We made a strong commitment to Promoting Women’s Health in the Programme for Government and are fully committed to the development and improvement of Women’s Health services and to working with women and girls to improve their health across the whole life cycle.

We have made a specific commitment to supporting "the work of the Women’s Health Taskforce, including the development of a Women’s Health Action Plan, to tackle a wide range of issues impacting women’s health outcomes in Ireland". A number of initial priority areas for action were determined by the Taskforce, with the issue of endometriosis recognised and included as part of a priority workstream on improving gynaecological health for women and girls.

The Healthy Workplace Framework, published in December 2021, aims to support the growth of effective approaches to enhance health and wellbeing in the workplace. The Framework is underpinned by robust evidence and consultation. An Implementation Group is in the process of being established, which will hold responsibility for developing an action plan. It is envisaged that a representative from Women’s Health will be included on the Implementation Group to help ensure the needs of women in the workplace are incorporated.

In relation to the treatment of endometriosis, I am advised that a GP referral to a gynaecologist is the standard pathway of care for the management of endometriosis in Ireland. This is similar to the pathway in place for the management of other gynaecological conditions.

Information provided by the HSE indicates that endometriosis is a difficult condition to diagnose and treat because of the variation of presentations, impacting the physical and mental wellbeing of patients at varying levels. Treatment may include pain medications, hormone treatment and surgical interventions. The time to diagnose endometriosis varies by patient due to its varying and ambiguous symptom presentation. The HSE's National Women & Infants Health Programme has advised that the best way to help the majority of patients with endometriosis is to improve access to gynaecology services.

As such, the Programme has developed an Ambulatory Gynaecology Model of Care which centres on the establishment of one-stop “see and treat” ambulatory gynaecology clinics. An ambulatory care model is a more efficient and effective use of resources than the traditional outpatient model and it is also better for the patient as it reduces the requirement for multiple outpatient appointments.

Building on progress made in rolling out these ambulatory gynaecology clinics in 2020 and 2021, funding has been provided under Budget 2022 which will facilitate the establishment of additional ambulatory gynaecology clinics, thereby completing the implementation of the Ambulatory Gynaecology Model of Care. This will bring the total number of these clinics to 20 nationally.

As part of the work of the Women’s Health Taskforce, in April 2021, I announced the expansion of the endometriosis service at Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) to deliver a specialist endometriosis centre for the management and treatment of all forms of endometriosis, with particular focus on advanced and complex cases for which there is no ready access in Ireland.

Further to the above, funding provided under Budget 2022 will enable the expansion of the endometriosis service at TUH as well as the establishment of a new service for more complex endometriosis cases at Cork University Maternity Hospital

The issue of endometriosis has also been highlighted through the nationwide “Radical Listening” exercise carried out by the Women’s Health Taskforce. This exercise enabled women across the country to share their views and experiences of the health sector and health services. This was a large-scale consultation process intended to maximise the participation of women across all life stages from 18 years upwards, including minority and disadvantaged women. 278 women participated in open interviews and workshops. A report on the findings of the ‘Radical listening’ exercise on September 14th can be found here:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/ebe3e-significant-milestone-as-minister-donnelly-publishes-a-report-of-womens-voices-on-womens-health-following-a-radical-listening-exercise-this-year/.