Cannabis Health
A new survey of NHS doctors has highlighted a growing demand for alternative treatment options for complex health issues such as chronic pain and women’s health-related concerns.
Out of 500 doctors currently practicing in the NHS, almost half of which were GPs, three quarters said that treatment options for women’s health conditions, such as endometriosis, PMDD and menopause, are too limited.
Meanwhile, over two-thirds (67%) say patients with chronic pain conditions take up the vast majority of their week and feel there are too few options for treating patients with conditions such as fibromyalgia, arthritis and back pain.
The poll also highlighted concerns about the overprescribing and long-term use of opioids, with three-quarters (75%) of doctors believing that typical treatments for chronic pain have worrying long-term side effects, and the majority saying the UK is over-reliant on these to manage chronic pain symptoms.
When asked about the type of alternative treatment they believe should be available, almost nine in 10 (87%) doctors agreed that they’d be open to prescribing medical cannabis to manage chronic pain, and 80% of GPs would prescribe it to manage women’s health conditions, if it were part of the NHS toolkit.
Dr Nikki Ramskill, a GP and founder of The Female Health Doctor Clinic, highlighted the “urgent need” for more “tailored treatments” for conditions such as endometriosis, PMDD and chronic pelvic pain, with existing options rarely addressing the “underlying cause”.
“Too often, women are offered antidepressants or painkillers as a default, despite symptoms being hormonal, inflammatory or complex in origin,” she says.
“These medications rarely address the underlying cause. Part of the problem is the historic lack of research into female health, and limited training for healthcare professionals in this area. Combined with long NHS waiting times, many women are left suffering in silence. We need a more personalised, better-informed approach to truly meet women’s healthcare needs.”
“Women deserve to know about it”
Waiting lists for gynaecological appointments have more than doubled since 2020, and as a result, an increasing number of women are looking for alternative or complementary treatments. The UK medical cannabis clinic, Alternaleaf, which conducted the survey, says it has issued thousands of prescriptions to treat women’s health conditions over the past 12 months.
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80% of NHS Doctors Would Prescribe Medical Cannabis, UK Poll Finds
