NEW: Read about my endometriosis excision experience in London here

 

Endometriosis Awareness Northern Ireland was founded by Sophie Kinloch in 2018. 

Sophie is a primary school teacher and passionate endometriosis advocate who ran a successful social media account 'EndoAwareNI' for more than 2 years singlehandedly whilst teaching full time.

With a combination of self-made infographics and the sharing of quality posts from other endo advocates and experts on Instagram; the account gained a reputation for accurate and easy to understand info on endo. 

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The mission of this website is to provide a comprehensive one-stop-shop for those with endo living in Northern Ireland to learn more about the disease, and to educate their friends and families too. 

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Sophie experienced first hand the severe and damaging lack of resources and accurate information for women in NI, and believes that patients here are falling through the net. Endometriosis care in Northern Ireland is substandard at best. Many women are travelling to England and further afield at great financial burden.

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Endometriosis is not a rare disease - it affects 1 in 10 women. 

Patients in Northern Ireland are being left by the wayside while their counterparts in England have excision surgeons and BGSE clinics on their doorstep. They can also exercise their Right to Choose on the NHS which means they can be treated in another Trust of their choice and therefore another county. 

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At present, the Health Service has rejected all ECR requests for women with endometriosis to be treated by a true specialist in another country and have their costs reimbursed. This is because they (wrongly) believe that the specialist care we require for this complex, lifelong, incurable disease is available in Northern Ireland.

It is important that patients in NI continue to speak up; appeal to their MPs, complain about negligence and malpractice from doctors here and continue to "speak endo" until lasting changes take place.  

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