House of Commons Debate – NHS hysteroscopy treatment (31 January 2023)

Summary

This is a brief summary of a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons on the 31 January 2023 on NHS hysteroscopy treatment, tabled by Lyn Brown MP.

Content

What is a Westminster Hall debate?

Westminster Hall debates give Members of Parliament (MPs) an opportunity to raise local or national issues and receive a response from a government minister. Any MP can take part in a Westminster Hall debate.

Hysteroscopy procedures in the NHS

In this debate Lyn Brown MP noted the significant number of women who experience extreme levels of pain when undergoing hysteroscopy, highlighted by groups such as the Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy. She shared several patient testimonies, raising concerns about healthcare professionals dismissing and ignoring patient feedback and emphasised the need for NHS trusts to offer patients who need a hysteroscopy a choice of appropriate pain relief.

Key issues raised in this debate included:

• Concerns patients who have negative experiences in relation to hysteroscopy may be afraid to access important health procedures in future, with a long-term impact on their health.
• A lack of formal data collection by the NHS on cases of painful hysteroscopy.
• Concerns that a new proposed target of aiming for 90% of hysteroscopy happening within outpatient rooms, which has emerged from the Getting It Right First Time programme, may exacerbate the number of cases where patients do not receive appropriate pain relief options.
• That new good practice guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) on this issue is due to be published imminently.
• That more research is needed into hysteroscopies, particularly for post-menopausal women.
• Concerns about the need to challenge potentially embedded views among gynaecologists in regards to pain and patient experiences of this procedure.
• Feryal Clark MP recounted her personal experience of having a painful hysteroscopy procedure.

This debate was responded to on behalf of the Government by Maria Caulfield MP, Minister for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy. Key points in her response included:

• She was planning to meet with the Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy group to discuss these issues further.
• The importance of the new RCOG best practice guidelines being rolled out in practice, and ensuring this brings clinical change on the ground.
• That hysteroscopy had not been included in the initial priorities of the Women’s Health Strategy as the Government wanted to wait on the new RCOG guidance before acting.
• There is a space being set up on the NHS website for women’s health so that women who are going for a procedure can easily access all relevant information.
• She has asked Professor Dame Lesley Regan, the Government’s Women’s Health Ambassador, to discuss the issues surrounding hysteroscopies further with Dr Henrietta Hughes, the Patient Safety Commissioner for England.

Watch the debate in full

Read the transcript

Join the conversation

Are you a healthcare worker with insights to share on this topic? Are you a patient who has had a hysteroscopy? Perhaps you are a researcher or have a different perspective to add?

You can join the conversation here or get in touch with us directly by emailing content@pslhub.org.

Related reading

• Patient Safety Learning, Improving hysteroscopy safety, 6 November 2020.
• Patient Safety Learning, Through the hysteroscope: Reflections of a gynaecologist, 26 January 2021.
• Patient Safety Learning, Guidance for outpatient hysteroscopy: Consultation Response, 16 March 2022.
• Richard Harrison, “Pain-free hysteroscopy”, a blog by Dr Richard Harrison, 6 November 2020.