Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:00 pm on 18 May 2022.
Having said that, obviously, all the points that have been made by other Members are really important. It's always going to be a good idea to be focusing the lens on women's health, because women have traditionally never had the same care as men. We have to remember that, before the NHS was founded by the post-war Labour Government, women next to never had any healthcare, because they always put their children and their husband, who was then supposedly the main breadwinner, before them in getting paid-for healthcare. So, the beginning of the NHS was a really, really important event in women's lives.
Focusing on 'A Healthier Wales', published in 2021, that didn't quite do it for me either, because you've got a new Senedd, a new health Minister and several really important plans that I feel we really do need to stay focused on. However, having said all that, we clearly need to focus on these issues. It really shouldn't take eight years to correctly diagnose endometriosis. It was a delight to meet Suzy Davies upstairs today—she's here for her work with the tourism board—because she, above all, put this on the agenda. And now, as a result of Suzy's interventions particularly, we have menstrual well-being education for boys and girls in all our schools so that girls are not suffering in silence about something they don't realise is not normal in the way they menstruate. And boys will be able to support girls in that when they're having those intimate conversations about the person they're in a close relationship with.
We do hope that the appointment of specialist endo nurses in each health board will improve the performance of GPs and, more worryingly, some gynaecologists' understanding of the presenting symptoms of endometriosis, because for me it is inexplicable that something that effects one in 10 women—. It's not some rare disease that only a specialist physician understands, this is one in 10 women. How is it possible that gynaecologists can't see endometriosis symptoms when they come through the door? So, there's clearly a lot of work to do for those endo nurses.
Jane Dodds referred to dementia and her personal experience of that earlier this afternoon. We have to remember that dementia, I read, is the biggest killer of women these days, and that's, obviously, something we really do need to reflect on, because some of it will be to do with loneliness, some of it will be to do with the quality of women's food, exercise, and all manner of other things that we really do need to understand, because this is a veritable pandemic.
On telemedical abortions, Wales has led the way in ensuring that what we developed during the pandemic has now become a permanent feature, so that women can get a telemedical abortion without having to leave the house, safely be able to do it in the privacy of their own home, and not delay getting treatment and have to then have a surgical abortion. So, well done the health Minister for having the guts to do that, because the UK Government has certainly sold the pass.
But there are many more things we need to learn from other countries. For example, in France, you get 10 free sessions of physiotherapy after the birth of a child. That's not because they're very keen to give people free sessions—it's because it's a preventative intervention to ensure that women are not having prolapses, back problems, incontinence, and all the other things that can go with pregnancy. For those of you who've never done it, I can tell you that it is quite a physical as well as mental exercise. So, I think that that is one thing that I would certainly want to come back to.
This cannot be about grandstanding. We need to really have this adult discussion and have it backed by all stakeholders. It's great that Sioned and others have brought the views of stakeholders into the Chamber. There will be an opportunity for anybody else who's interested in this subject to hear from Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales and the British Heart Foundation Cymru in the cross-party group on women's health tomorrow lunchtime, which is being held virtually, so, wherever you happen to be, you can join. Because this is the way we have to go about having this women's health strategy—to ensure that all women are included, and girls. I look forward to having a path-breaking plan, which I'm sure the Minister will be producing in due course.