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There are currently 600,000 women waiting for NHS gynaelcology treatment, a figure which has increased by a third over the past two years, according to analysis of data from the House of Commons Library. Of those, 33,000 have been waiting more than a year for treatment. Andrea Klassen, a civil servant from York, was told in August 2023 that she needed to be referred to a gynaecologist after she had spent 18 months trying for a baby. Now, she has been told the wait for an appointment is almost six months.
At the beginning of 2022 I was 32 years old, I had just got engaged, my partner and I had had an offer accepted on a house and we thought, let’s start trying for a baby – it’s the next logical step.
When I went off birth control my periods weren’t regular, but I dutifully waited a full year before I contacted my GP because I thought, I’m young! Maybe it’ll happen – I don’t want to stress.
So at the beginning of 2023 I made my first appointment with a GP. She suggested bloodwork and tests – with all the appointments and follow-up appointments to discuss the results, those took almost a year.
One of those tests was a uterine scan, for which I had to wait two months to get an appointment. They found some cysts and told me it was probably polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition which causes women to ovulate irregularly and therefore makes it harder to conceive. The guy we saw for the follow-up appointment said, “I’ll tell your GP to make the referral to the gynaecologist”. That was in August 2023.
At the time, my sister-in-law, who is herself a GP, said “you should go private, Andrea. There’s such a long wait for this”. But I thought, “they’ll get in touch with us”. Now I know I was being naive.
When I hadn’t heard anything by January this year, I called my GP. She said, “actually, you’re short two tests. Here are the forms. Go back, get those done”.
Finally, in March, she made the referral. We got the option to either wait 20 weeks to see a gynaecologist in our city, or wait 19 weeks to go to one further away. 20 or 19. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Six months doesn’t sound like a lot to most people, but I feel time is slipping away. I started this when I was 32; I’ve just turned 35. It’s taken time to make appointments and then follow-up appointments; when I eventually get a slot with the gynaecologist, another journey begins: she’s going to order more tests, and who knows where you go from there. It feels like I’ve wasted so much time.
When you are waiting for six months, nobody sees what’s going on behind the scenes: it’s not only that my biological clock is ticking, but it has also affected my career and my relationships.
Before this started, I had been a primary school teacher for seven years. But it was hard to fit the tests around a work schedule that isn’t very flexible, especially with some of the tests having to be on certain days of your cycle (which is particularly tricky when your cycles are irregular).
Because of that, I ended up quitting: I left primary school teaching this Christmas and took a job in the Civil Service where I can take time off to go to appointments. It’s given me a little bit more headspace – but if I hadn’t endured this wait, I would absolutely still be a teacher.
It has also impacted my friendships, and even relationships with family members who have gotten pregnant. You get so mixed up in the emotions of it – you do feel like you withdraw or have bad days or you’re sad. And on their side, it’s difficult for them to understand what you’re going through. They say, “I’m here to support you”, but it still feels really lonely.
While I’ve been waiting for my appointment to come through, I have done my own research, and ended up spending a lot of money on remedies: I’ve tried all the herbal teas, I’ve ordered myo-inositol supplements to be taken four times a day, and there are supplements for my husband. I’ve just booked my first acupuncture session, which will be weekly – in all, I am spending about £400 a month on this stuff.
I have been tempted to go private – and this sounds crazy, but I feel like I’d be letting down the NHS. I’ve researched it and it would be expensive – about £400 just for initial tests. Despite the costs, we’re getting closer to considering it. It would be frustrating, though – I’m originally Canadian, and I still have to pay for my partner visa as a Canadian. As part of that, every two-and-a-half years I have to pay over £2,000 for an immigration health surcharge, which is essentially my contribution to the NHS, so I feel like I’m paying for this already.
I love the NHS: my brother and my sister-in-law are both NHS GPs. But one of my best friends in Canada was trying last year for a baby and had a miscarriage. That was terrible, but she was seen right away, put on injections and now has a baby. That was in the space of a year – I’ve been trying three times as long and I haven’t even seen a gynaecologist.
I feel let down by the system; I thought it would take care of us a bit more. I just feel the NHS has been so neglected for the last 10 years. The people in it are working their butts off – but it feels like there’s just no hope for them.
Even after all the delays, I haven’t really felt angry until the last few weeks. But then the reality of this 20-week wait hit me and I started thinking about all the time I’ve wasted and I’ve gotten really mad. And that’s a really hard feeling to sit with.
