26/09/2026
Last night I was in London for the launch of Tackling Gender Bias in the Healthcare System by Jinty Sheerin and Louise Hockings-Thompson of 🎉🥳
I’ve followed their podcast for a long time. Episode after episode, they give women the space to tell their stories in full, and those stories show a pattern that’s hard to ignore. This book brings those experiences together, names the problem clearly and, importantly, looks at what can be done about it.
In my clinic, I hear versions of these stories. Women describe years of fatigue, pain, heavy periods or perimenopausal symptoms being put down to stress or age, or being told “it’s all in your head”, “you have a low pain threshold” or “give it time, it’ll go away”, without anyone looking further.
The evidence backs this up. When the UK government gathered evidence for the Women’s Health Strategy for England, 84% of respondents said there had been times when healthcare professionals did not listen to them. For decades, women were also underrepresented in clinical research, so much of what we know about treatment was built on data from men.
The stories in this book are hard to believe. But they happened, and that’s the problem.
A couple of practical points from Lou and Jinty stayed with me. Take someone with you to your appointments. And if a doctor won’t treat you or doesn’t take your concerns seriously, you can ask them to record that decision in writing. Clear, calm and useful.
It was a room full of women doing the work, whether as healthcare professionals or by sharing their own stories to help others. I came away with a sense that change is possible when we keep speaking up and supporting each other.
If you’ve ever sat in an appointment feeling unheard, or supported your mother, sister or daughter through one, read this book. In fact, everyone should read it.
Congratulations, Jinty and Lou. 📚
