Help get annual women's health checkups onto the NHS agenda

[personalsummer]

Just that really! Came across this by chance and having being a sufferer of PCOS among other associated issues all my adult life and now having had a recent diagnosis from which I would have benefited from a yearly check up I am now becoming passionate about helping to get this onto the agenda. Women and girls in many other countries have yearly access to a gynaecological checkup so why all women and girls in the UK?

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TIA and make a difference.

I would be really opposed to this, it would result in women being under more pressure to comply with screening that delivers no practical or statistical benefits. You can already go to see your G.P. if you have concerns.

Can you post some links to the evidence that shows yearly check ups can effect morbidity and mortality?

I was only thinking about mammograms - the breast screening programme has not been shown to save lives and yet we are guilt tripped into compliance. I can't see much point in seeing a gynaecologist every single year when iIhave no symptoms.

Hi all, its more a choice to have access rather than compulsory like mammograms and smears. If this had been available to me then I would not be in a position similar to Davina and surely be proactive is better than reactive?

I don't disagree with the choice to have an annual gynae check up, but where are the funds going to come from?

Women and girls in many other countries have yearly access to a gynaecological checkup so why all women and girls in the UK?

Because it’s not evidence-based, and would cost a huge mount of money for a relatively low yield. TBH many doctors consider doing yearly gynae exams on young women without symptoms to be ethically fairly dubious.

Nobaggypants appreciate where you are coming from but surely the cost can be offset against women dying from late diagnosis

AppropriateAdult this is not a call for mandatory checkups just availability.

Well, no health checks are mandatory. But if they’re made available they will be used, and will end up costing a huge amount.

There's so much rampant health anxiety on MN already. As soon as you make this a 'thing' some women will fret that they must go when it's not going to help them and could just feed a real mental illness. DH (fighting fit as a fiddle, cycles 120 miles in a day) went along for the age 40+ checkup, honestly, he was the person in least need of doing that (ever). But he thought he was supposed to.

You can access gynae when you have symptoms that something is unwell. Cervical checks are every few yrs which can pick up issues, too. Mammograms are already offered from age 47+.

This would never pass a cost/benefit screening analysis. It would be a ridiculous waste of money in a cash strapped NHS, to pointlessly examine 30 million healthy women every year. Where on earth do you think we’d find the thousands of extra gynaecologists for a start?
If you have gynae symptoms, go to your GP and get referred.