Menopause: Anglesey woman faces 80-mile trip to clinic

Women going through the menopause in north-west Wales are being "forgotten" due to a lack of local specialist services, a campaigner has claimed.

Delyth Owen, 61, first got symptoms in her 50s, but living on Anglesey, she found the nearest specialist clinic was 83 miles (134km) away in Wrexham.

Ms Owen, from Llanfaelog, launched a petition calling for a local service.

The health board said it provided a virtual consultation service for women who could not travel.

Betsi Cadwaladr health board has specialist menopause clinics at Wrexham Maelor Hospital and Deeside Community Hospital in Flintshire - both in north-east Wales.

Ms Owen said it meant women in her part of the health board area, in north-west Wales, were "being forgotten".

"Why can't the health board send a consultant who specialises in the field to Ysbyty Gwynedd [in Bangor, Gwynedd] for one or two days a week?" Ms Owen asked.

"Instead of asking hundreds of women to travel from places like Anglesey or the Llŷn Peninsula to Wrexham in order to get treatment."

"My mental health was terribly low, it was like there was a black cloud all the time... I thought, 'what is happening to me?'

"I remember being shopping and just bursting into tears for no reason and then getting into the car and not wanting to drive back."

In 2017, Ms Owen established the first menopause cafe on Anglesey - a place where women could share their experiences and support each other - but the project ended during the pandemic.

Betsi Cadwaladr health board said its "menopause specialists often undertake virtual consultations to avoid travel, which can be difficult for some and this is appreciated by our women and families".

But Ms Owen said the online service was "not good enough".

"Everyone has the right to see someone face-to-face," she added.

Since launching the petition, she said she had been "shocked" to see more than a thousand people back her call for better services.

"There are women here who can't afford travel costs, can't afford to pay someone to babysit for them, can't afford to have a day off work to travel to Wrexham. These women get forgotten about."

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, the MS for Ynys Môn (Anglesey), said the discussion had gone on "far too long".

"I have written to the health board. Quite simply, the service needs to be strengthened."

Betsi Cadwaladr health board said its specialist services in Flintshire and Wrexham were for women with "more complex needs such as multiple treatment failures or complex medical problems".

"All our consultants in gynaecology across the three north Wales sites continue to see women and people with menopause related symptoms within their gynaecology clinics," said women's services leader Geeta Kumar.

Ms Kumar added the health board was "always looking at ways to improve our services".