Menorrhagia: the need for equity in treatment in Britain

Description/Abstract

Equity in health care is described as a key objective of the National Health Service (NHS) and the Department of Health in Britain. I There are various ways in which equity in health care may be defined, but for the purpose of this paper it is defined as 'equally informed access' to care. Using the example of treatment options for menorrhagia, this paper shows that gynaecological services available to women in two different geographical areas of northwest England vary considerably. As a result some women are notbeing informed about the full range of alternative treatments and are therefore being denied access to up-to-date surgical procedures which have been shown to be effective in the treatment of menorrhagia. The data is drawn principally from interviews with 49 general practitioners and also from hospital managers in these two areas.