Women’s Health: Stories of women’s health experiences in York

This is a report by Healthwatch York. The project looks at women's health.

This report shares local women’s experiences of health and care across the life course. We bring these stories together to try and provide a more complete picture of women’s health in York.
Overall, women want to be listened to. Collectively and individually. Many women talked to us about their poor experiences in seeking help for health issues. They want to see improved recognition of, and support pathways for, long term conditions. 

These include:

• Endometriosis and fibrosis
• ME / CFS
• Fibromyalgia
• POTS
• Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
• Osteoporosis
• Pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder

Women also shared their concerns about issues relating to menopause, especially early menopause. They reported concerns about dismissive attitudes, and a lack of consistency about the support available. But they also wanted to highlight that women continue to need good health and care support after menopause.

There are recommendations in this report:

• Improve training around recognising tongue ties in newborn infants and make sure staff are aware of and able to put people onto the pathway for correcting this.
• Encourage local clinicians to take up opportunities to improve their knowledge and understanding of long term conditions such as ME / CFS and Endometriosis, including how this presents in younger women.
• Provide clarity about the pathway for women in our area with hEDS and POTS.
• Continue to make a case for locating a Mother and Baby Unit in Humber and North Yorkshire with national health bodies.
• Review the local pathway for women’s bone health. 

There are no follow up actions in this report. There has been a response to the report.