Monica, Labour’s former health spokeswomen, has chosen to share her story to highlight the issue and also to encourage women not to put off visiting their GP with concerns.
04:30, 08 Mar 2026
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MSP Monica Lennon has told how a cancer scare has left her in limbo on an NHS operation waiting list and warned women’s health in Scotland is being failed.
It comes as shocking new statistics show female patients are being forced to wait over four years for a hysterectomies and other critical procedures.
Monica, Labour’s former health spokeswomen, has chosen to share her story in the Sunday Mail to highlight the issue and also to encourage women not to put off visiting their GP with concerns.
MSP Monica Lennon has told how a cancer scare has left her in limbo on an NHS operation waiting list and warned women’s health in Scotland is being failed
The 45-year-old mum-of-one and stepmum-of-two first visited her GP in June and was referred for a scan only to face an agonizing six month wait for an appointment which she finally received in December.
And after a further MRI scan revealed an ovarian cyst she is now on another waiting list for an operation to have it removed in the hope that will give her the all clear.
Speaking on International Women’s Day the MSP, who is campaigning to retain her seat in May’s Scottish Parliament election, said: “A combination of long waiting times and inflexible bureaucracy led to a six-month wait for my scan.
“My results in early January brought mixed news. The scan results came back clear, however, there was an incidental discovery.
“I have a complex ovarian cyst and after further investigations including an ultrasound, MRI and blood tests I now require surgery.
“I’m feeling well and there’s a degree of reassurance that my cyst is more likely to be on the benign spectrum.
“This can only be determined by a biopsy post-surgery.
“Due to family history, as my mum had cancer and the borderline nature, I feel fortunate this has been detected early and in my mind the surgery will hopefully be preventative in nature.
“My focus is on preparing myself for the operation, emotionally and physically.
“I’m awaiting my pre-operation appointment now and surprisingly, with two months to go until the election, my blood pressure is completely normal.”
MSP Monica Lennon has told how a cancer scare has left her in limbo on an NHS operation waiting list and warned women’s health in Scotland is being failed
Monica, is the convenor of Holyrood’s Cross-Party Group on Women’s Health and last week chaired an event for Endometriosis UK to coincide with Endometriosis Action Month.
New figures obtained by Scottish Labour have shown that a women in NHS Lanarkshire faced a wait of 1564 days for a hysterectomy – well over four years.
Similarly in NHS Tayside a woman waited nearly four years, and in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde one waited more than three and a half years.
Hysterectomies are used to treat a range of women’s health conditions when other treatment options have failed, including multiple types of cancer.
As of September 2025, 66,261 women were waiting for care, compared with 18,649 in March 2018.
More than 61per cent have been waiting longer than the 12-week treatment target, with tens of thousands living with painful and life-altering conditions as the system struggles to cope.
Approximately 350 women die from ovarian cancer in Scotland each year, with approximately 600 women diagnosed.
Lennon, who was responsible for the Scottish Government’s Free Period Products Act in 2020, has spoken out as waiting list for gynaecological care in Scotland have risen by more than 250per cent in seven years.
She added: “I want people to be aware of the symptoms and for gynaecology waiting times to be significantly reduced.
“Over 60,000 women in Scotland are on gynaecologists waiting lists, many because of abnormal post-menopausal bleeding.
“Endometriosis diagnosis is now over 10 years in Scotland (average); the highest of the UK four nations.
“When women go through menopause, there are endless symptoms and you always put anything down to that.
“I think it’s just something that a lot of women go through and we don’t really talk about. You put off going to the GP or to appointments because we’re busy particularly if we have child care responsibility and families to look after.
“But the lesson for me and what I want to encourage women to do is please go get checked out. It’s so important, it could save your life.
“I’ve been on social media and I’ve seen so many women talking about ovarian cancer. I’m amazed at the number of younger women whose concerns have actually been dismissed.
“Early detection really impacts your survival chances so it is so important to pay attention. Women just go on thinking ‘ well everyone’s tired, everyone’s exhausted’ and you really need to listen to your body and put yourself and your health first.”
MSP Monica Lennon has told how a cancer scare has left her in limbo on an NHS operation waiting list and warned women’s health in Scotland is being failed
The mum-of-one, who has two grown up stepchildren, and is a grandmother, has said her experience has also shown her the extent of the under-pressure National Health Service.
The MSP who born in Bellshill and raised in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, said: “I’m a busy mum and stepmum to grown up children.
“Both my stepkids are parents now and I’m loving being a gran. My 19 year old daughter is studying medicine and we’re really proud of her passion for the NHS.
“What I have noticed with all my appointments, it’s just how stretched the NHS staff are.
“It’s really heartbreaking to see, staff so tired and under so much stress.
“We’re moving so far away from the NHS’s original ethos.
“I’m knocking on doors and speaking to people who have been waiting a really long time for a scan, an operation. People can’t afford to wait and most are not in a position to do anything else.
With your health, the best chance for treatment and the best outcome for any event is to get checked out as soon as possible.”
Last year, SNP Minister Christina McKelvie died in March at age 57 after receiving treatment for secondary breast cancer.
She recovered from breast cancer in 2021 but was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in June 2024.
McKelvie had been the MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse since May 2011, having initially been elected on the Central Scotland list in 2007.
Monica added: “Christina McKelvie was my MSP. She was somebody who was so full of life is so vibrant, and probably put her health at the back of the queue many times.”
Scottish Labour’s Women’s Health spokesperson Carol Mochan added: “It is a scandal that the SNP is leaving women in limbo for years on end waiting for potentially life-saving hysterectomies.
“Women’s health in Scotland has been treated as an afterthought for too long and now the SNP’s NHS crisis has pushed things to crisis point.
“We see the same story time and time again – women waiting years for hysterectomies, dealing with soaring gynaecology lists, and waiting as much as a decade for endometriosis diagnoses.
“Scottish Labour will step up where the SNP has failed, fix the mess they have made of our NHS and give women’s healthcare the attention it deserves.”
Persistent bloating
Pelvic or abdominal pain
Feeling full quickly and/or loss of appetite
Urinary symptoms
Indigestion
Constipation or diarrhoea