'If this were affecting men, how long would they put up with it?'

A nurse at Royal Oldham Hospital has been left fighting for her life after being diagnosed with a rare form of endometriosis that affects her chest and lungs. Lucy Bowker, who works at the very hospital where she's now a patient, has been admitted to intensive care multiple times this year as the condition causes her to cough up blood, suffer severe nosebleeds, and struggle to breathe. The 32-year-old from Oldham is now an ambassador for Endometriosis Awareness North, campaigning for better...

Lucy's case highlights a shocking lack of specialist care in Greater Manchester, with the nearest experts in thoracic endometriosis based in Oxford and London-and even those services are facing funding cuts. She's been admitted to hospital for up to seven days every other week, requiring as much as 19 litres of oxygen in A&E before being transferred to intensive care. In a blog last September, she wrote: 'I have to be honest, each flare-up is getting worse.

The condition, which causes tissue similar to the womb lining to grow in other parts of the body, has left Lucy unable to work and facing an uncertain future. Lesions have been found on the left side of her chest, with her lung fused to her ribs, and the disease is now spreading to the right side. Her story mirrors that of Courtney Ormrod, another Oldham woman whose battle with endometriosis inspired local GP Dr Anita Sharma to found the awareness charity.

Dr Sharma, who set up Endometriosis Awareness North with Courtney's help, is now calling for one-stop clinics in Oldham that would provide all the services endometriosis patients need, including counselling. She has health workers ready to staff these clinics but cannot get approval for the necessary space and resources. The average diagnosis time in the UK is now nine years and four months, according to a recent parliamentary report, with patients often waiting months or years for scans and...