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<\/p>\nMonica, Labour\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
04:30, 08 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
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MSP Monica Lennon has told how a cancer scare has left her in limbo on an NHS operation<\/a> waiting list and warned women\u2019s health in Scotland is being failed.<\/p>\n It comes as shocking new statistics show female patients are being forced to wait over four years for a hysterectomies and other critical procedures.<\/p>\n Monica, Labour\u2019s former health spokeswomen<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n MSP Monica Lennon has told how a cancer scare has left her in limbo on an NHS operation waiting list and warned women\u2019s health in Scotland is being failed<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n And after a further MRI scan revealed an ovarian <\/a>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.<\/p>\n Speaking on International Women\u2019s Day<\/a> the MSP, who is campaigning to retain her seat in May\u2019s Scottish Parliament election, said: \u201cA combination of long waiting times and inflexible bureaucracy led to a six-month wait for my scan.<\/p>\n \u201cMy results in early January brought mixed news. The scan results came back clear, however, there was an incidental discovery.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a complex ovarian cyst and after further investigations including an ultrasound, MRI and blood tests I now require surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m feeling well and there\u2019s a degree of reassurance that my cyst is more likely to be on the benign spectrum.<\/p>\n \u201cThis can only be determined by a biopsy post-surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cDue 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.<\/p>\n \u201cMy focus is on preparing myself for the operation, emotionally and physically.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m awaiting my pre-operation appointment now and surprisingly, with two months to go until the election, my blood pressure is completely normal.\u201d<\/p>\n MSP Monica Lennon has told how a cancer scare has left her in limbo on an NHS operation waiting list and warned women\u2019s health in Scotland is being failed<\/p>\n Monica, is the convenor of Holyrood\u2019s Cross-Party Group on Women\u2019s Health and last week chaired an event for Endometriosis UK to coincide with Endometriosis Action Month.<\/p>\n New figures obtained by Scottish Labour <\/a>have shown that a women in NHS Lanarkshire<\/a> faced a wait of 1564 days for a hysterectomy \u2013 well over four years.<\/p>\n Similarly in NHS Tayside a woman waited nearly four years, and in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde<\/a> one waited more than three and a half years.<\/p>\n Hysterectomies are used to treat a range of women\u2019s health conditions when other treatment options have failed, including multiple types of cancer.<\/p>\n As of September 2025, 66,261 women were waiting for care, compared with 18,649 in March 2018.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Approximately 350 women die from ovarian cancer<\/a> in Scotland each year, with approximately 600 women diagnosed.<\/p>\n Lennon, who was responsible for the Scottish Government\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cI want people to be aware of the symptoms and for gynaecology waiting times to be significantly reduced.<\/p>\n \u201cOver 60,000 women in Scotland are on gynaecologists waiting lists, many because of abnormal post-menopausal bleeding<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEndometriosis diagnosis is now over 10 years in Scotland (average); the highest of the UK four nations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen women go through menopause<\/a>, there are endless symptoms and you always put anything down to that.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s just something that a lot of women go through and we don\u2019t really talk about. You put off going to the GP or to appointments because we\u2019re busy particularly if we have child care responsibility and families to look after.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the lesson for me and what I want to encourage women to do is please go get checked out. It\u2019s so important, it could save your life.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been on social media and I\u2019ve seen so many women talking about ovarian cancer<\/a>. I\u2019m amazed at the number of younger women whose concerns have actually been dismissed.<\/p>\n \u201cEarly detection really impacts your survival chances so it is so important to pay attention. Women just go on thinking \u2018 well everyone\u2019s tired, everyone\u2019s exhausted\u2019 and you really need to listen to your body and put yourself and your health first.\u201d<\/p>\n MSP Monica Lennon has told how a cancer scare has left her in limbo on an NHS operation waiting list and warned women\u2019s health in Scotland is being failed<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The MSP who born in Bellshill and raised in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, said: \u201cI\u2019m a busy mum and stepmum to grown up children.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth my stepkids are parents now and I\u2019m loving being a gran. My 19 year old daughter is studying medicine and we\u2019re really proud of her passion for the NHS.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhat I have noticed with all my appointments, it\u2019s just how stretched the NHS staff are.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really heartbreaking to see, staff so tired and under so much stress.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re moving so far away from the NHS\u2019s original ethos.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m knocking on doors and speaking to people who have been waiting a really long time for a scan, an operation. People can\u2019t afford to wait and most are not in a position to do anything else.<\/p>\n With your health, the best chance for treatment and the best outcome for any event is to get checked out as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, SNP Minister Christina McKelvie<\/a> died in March at age 57 after receiving treatment for secondary breast cancer.<\/p>\n She recovered from breast cancer in 2021 but was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in June 2024.<\/p>\n McKelvie<\/a> had been the MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse since May 2011, having initially been elected on the Central Scotland list in 2007.<\/p>\n Monica added: \u201cChristina 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.”<\/p>\n Scottish Labour\u2019s Women\u2019s Health<\/a> spokesperson Carol Mochan added: \u201cIt is a scandal that the SNP is leaving women in limbo for years on end waiting for potentially life-saving hysterectomies.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen\u2019s health in Scotland has been treated as an afterthought for too long and now the SNP\u2019s NHS crisis has pushed things to crisis point.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see the same story time and time again \u2013 women waiting years for hysterectomies, dealing with soaring gynaecology lists, and waiting as much as a decade for endometriosis diagnoses.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_JS398951625.jpg\")
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