‘Medical misogyny failing women in rural Wales’

A Senedd Member warned a woman’s postcode too often dictates whether she receives timely care in Wales as he shared his daughter’s own 13-year ordeal.

Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell expressed concerns about systemic failings in women’s healthcare and a “unique patchwork of barriers” facing women in rural Wales.

He shared the story of his daughter’s struggle with chronic debilitating pain after her symptoms were repeatedly dismissed as normal period pains by doctors.

Leading a powerful debate, Mr Campbell told the Senedd his daughter became emotionally distressed on one occasion during an appointment with her GP in Carmarthenshire.

He said: “Rather than investigating further what might be the underlying reason for the excruciating pain she was suffering, she was offered mental health support and a few paracetamols. Needless to say, the GP was a male doctor.”

‘Needless suffering’

Mr Campbell said his daughter’s determination resulted in her eventually being diagnosed with adenomyosis, a painful gynaecological condition, at a west Wales hospital.

“But her story doesn’t stop there,” he told the Senedd, with his daughter discovering she had been misdiagnosed – and actually had stage-four endometriosis – after moving to Cardiff.

“As a parent, I was so angry and disappointed that she’d been let down and had suffered so much needless pain for so long. Now, things have to change.”

Mr Campbell warned women’s health has been systematically deprioritised due to a lack of clinical understanding, political will, representation and research.

The Mid and West Wales politician said: “The outcome is all too familiar: women waiting years for diagnoses, travelling long distances for treatment or being silenced entirely.”

‘Postcode lottery’

Mr Campbell said the Welsh Government’s new ten-year women’s health plan offers few concrete measures and fails to address specific challenges women face in rural Wales.

He warned the closure of surgeries and A&E departments, coupled with poor transport and digital infrastructure, risks dismantling access to care, ultimately undermining the plan.

He told the chamber or Siambr: “Cutting rural services, from GP surgeries to minor injuries units, doesn’t help women’s health at all. Unfortunately, in Wales, a postcode, for a woman, will often dictate whether she receives timely care or has to suffer in silence.”

His colleague Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru’s shadow health secretary, said far too many women in rural Wales are disappointed by the health system.

However, Sarah Murphy stressed women’s health is a priority for First Minister Eluned Morgan, who stayed behind to listen in after the chamber had emptied following voting.

‘No one size fits all’

Responding to the debate on September 17, Ms Murphy – whose responsibilities include women’s health – pointed to £3m to support the plan and an additional £3.7m for research.

The mental health minister said the plan, which contains eight priority areas and more than 60 actions, will see a women’s health hub in each health board area by March 2026.

She told the Senedd: “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to the hubs in Wales, so each women’s health hub will need to respond to the particular needs of the women in that health board and particularly marginalised groups of women.

“It is essential that they can access the same standard of care – even if it’s delivered differently in Carmarthen, Cardiff and Conwy, for example.”

Ms Murphy stressed the scale and long-term nature of the reforms but was confident Wales is on the right path, saying: “There is absolutely the clinical will, the political determination.”