GP says more women going to the UK for treatment

Dr Jessica Langtree-Marsh said more patients were going to the UK for specialist treatment for women's health issues

A Jersey GP says she more patients going to the UK to get specialist treatment for women's health issues due to there not always being the expertise on island.

Dr Jessica Langtree-Marsh from the women's health hub said there isn't the expertise in Jersey to treat conditions like urinary incontinence and endometriosis.

Her comments come as the health minister faces questions from politicians in a public hearing on Wednesday on what measures he's taking to tackle women's health issues on the island.

The hearing is taking place after a government survey showed that while women in Jersey lived longer than men, they were in poorer health for longer.

'Waiting lists'

Dr Jessica Langtree-Marsh said it was fairly easy for women to access healthcare but the next step of seeing a specialist was difficult.

"Currently in order to get the expertise within women's health we are seeing more and more people travel off island", she said.

Dr Langtree-Marsh said a lot of women going for treatment in the UK were on private health care but others were self-funding.

"Those who choose to self-fund are women who have been in pain or have significant bleeding problems on a monthly basis, and they are choosing to use their own money to get care elsewhere because the waiting lists here feel too long for them.

"There are certain issues such as urogynaecology which is incontinence, which a lot of women suffer with mostly in silence because it's not a subject we would all want to talk about. We don't have the expertise to deal with that on island and at the women's health hub we are referring off island.

"Issues like endometriosis we are referring off island so people can have more specialist management of their care."

The government scrapped the women's health strategy last year saying it didn't want to progress "an underfunded, stand alone scheme".

Dr Langtree-Marsh said this "was a real shame" and "made us feel dismissed as women in the island".

Debbie Taylor from Soroptimists Jersey said it was a shame the women's health strategy was scrapped

These sentiments were echoed by Debbie Taylor, head of volunteer women's organisation the Soroptimists Jersey.

The Soroptimists aim to transform the lives of women through education and empowerment.

She said: "I think the problem that we have in Jersey, and it's the same as in the UK, is that there are many doctors that are very good at what they do and do listen to women but there are some who are still ingrained in the past and aren't very good at listening to women.

"So if you have a women's health strategy then we are all at least singing from the same hymn sheet."

'Need more money'

In a recent States Assembly sitting the Health Minister, Deputy Tom Binet said: "There are areas of women's health that need specific attention.

"We have three specific areas that we have been working on and we will do a needs assessment so further work can take place."

The minister also pointed to funding issues and said: "The budget for this year is under acute pressure and if we were to do something for women we would need more money."