Health Secretary Wes Streeting has admitted that 'medical misogyny' is letting women down in the UK, following a Mumsnet survey which found half of female patients felt they had been dismissed or ignored because of their sex. The survey of women using the site revealed that more than half believed the NHS was institutionally misogynistic.
According to the report, 50% of women said they had been dismissed, ignored or not believed by an NHS professional due to their sex. 64% reported being told their pain or symptoms were 'normal' or 'in their head', and 68% felt the NHS does not take women's health concerns seriously. The findings are based on nearly 100,000 posts from Mumsnet between 2015 and 2025, describing 'dismissal, disbelief or deprioritisation' in healthcare settings.
One woman with adenomyosis and severe endometriosis said she was dismissed for years with comments like 'period pain is normal, you may have a low pain threshold'. Another woman who had pelvic pain for 22 years before diagnosis said she had been unable to have intercourse due to the pain. A third woman who reported a 'burning band of pain' around her uterus was told she 'seemed very emotional' and should consider counselling.
Delays had serious consequences for some, including a woman who lost two fallopian tubes, an ovary and a section of bowel while waiting for endometriosis surgery. She said her fertility and bowel function would have been saved if she had been treated earlier. House of Lords research from 2021 cited studies showing poorer health outcomes for women, and a 2020 government inquiry blamed an arrogant culture where serious complications were dismissed as 'women's problems'.
Streeting said the report showed the NHS had let women down 'far too long', and he was driving change through more funding, menopause support, community health services, and Martha's rule allowing urgent second opinions. He added: 'Medical misogyny has no place within our NHS.' Mumsnet is calling for mandatory training on sex-specific bias, an end to normalising women's pain, and women's health hubs in each of England's 42 NHS regions.
