Health Secretary Wes Streeting has admitted that 'medical misogyny' is letting women down in the UK, following a survey showing half of female patients felt dismissed or ignored because of their sex. The Mumsnet report, based on data from the site over the past decade, warns of 'structural and deeply embedded' sexism in UK healthcare.
The survey found that 50% of women believed they had been dismissed, ignored or not believed by an NHS professional due to their sex. 64% said they had been explicitly told their pain or symptoms were 'normal' or 'in their head', and 68% thought the NHS does not take women's health concerns seriously.
Streeting said the report showed the NHS had let women down 'far too long'. He pointed to measures including more funding, menopause support, community health services, and Martha's rule, which gives patients a right to an urgent second opinion. 'Medical misogyny has no place within our NHS,' he said.
The report draws on nearly 100,000 Mumsnet posts from 2015 to 2025, describing 'dismissal, disbelief or deprioritisation' in healthcare. One woman with adenomyosis and severe endometriosis said she was dismissed for years with comments like 'period pain is normal'. Another waited 22 years for a pelvic pain diagnosis, losing the ability to have intercourse.
Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts said: 'For more than a decade, women have described the same pattern: pain minimised, symptoms dismissed and a constant need to fight simply to be heard.' The group is calling for mandatory training on sex-specific bias, an end to normalising women's pain, and women's health hubs in all 42 NHS regions.
