New menopause clinic supports patients and GPs across Hampshire

June 18, 2008

A new menopause clinic launched by Southampton-based Wessex Fertility at the Freya Centre will offer specialist support to GPs and menopause patients across Hampshire.  Millions of women worldwide abandoned HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy), the most commonly prescribed treatment for menopause sufferers, following a WHI study in 2002 linking increased health risks with HRT.  As a result of this and subsequent studies, GPs have been increasingly reluctant to prescribe such medication, resulting in a lack of support and treatment available to sufferers of menopause symptoms.

Dr Jacqui Tuckey, consultant in sexual and reproductive health and head of the Freya Centre menopause clinic, commented: ‘Women who suffer from symptoms of menopause have for too long had few places to turn to for treatment and support.  In the last few years, a number of research initiatives concluded that HRT treatments carried a increased health risks in certain cases, creating panic over the use of what had until then been our most effective treatment.  More recent research has shown that earlier studies were far from conclusive and that there is evidence to support significant benefits from HRT, in addition to symptom relief.  The key is to evaluate individual circumstances and discuss specific benefits and risks with each patient.”

Dr Fiona Sizmur, Consultant in Reproductive and Sexual Health at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester, added: “This new clinic will undoubtedly help many women in Southampton and the wider Hampshire area by providing specialist help and treatment for women experiencing problems in the menopause.  It will also provide much needed support to GPs who, until now, have been unable to access a dedicated menopause clinic.”

The new clinic will offer private consultations and treatments to both GP and self-referred patients.  The menopause clinic is part of an extended range of women’s health services, recently available from Wessex Fertility, known predominantly for its successful fertility clinic which has been established for 24 years.