It waits to be seen what impact the new government will have on women’s health services. If they meet the promises laid out in their manifesto, we could be in luck: not only does the document promise to cut NHS waiting times by providing, among other things, 40,000 new appointments every week, but it says that women’s health will “never again” be neglected.

For now, however, the NHS says it’s working hard to get waiting times down. When Strong Women approached the NHS for comment, a spokesperson said, “While the latest data shows that, thanks to the hard work of staff, each month over the past 10 months more elective activity has been delivered compared with the same month pre-pandemic, we know there is much more to do to bring down long waits for care, particularly for women who are waiting for crucial appointments and treatment.

“The NHS is continuing to work closely with local care systems to improve women’s health outcomes, including by appointing our first ever dedicated national clinical director for women’s health who will help to make improvements across England.”

Almost half of NHS gynaecology patients in England wait more than 18 weeks for treatment