NHS plea by solicitor

A Yorkshire solicitor is spearheading a campaign to make widely available on the NHS a revolutionary medical technique which could save thousands of women from having to undergo hysterectomies.

Fiona Buckton, a partner specialising in property law at York-based Munby & Scott, faced a hysterectomy as a result of fibroids last year when she heard about the much less invasive uterine artery embolisation (UAE), which does not involve the removal of the womb.'UAE is carried out under local anaesthetic, and you can be back at work in ten days,' says Mrs Buckton, whose relief at discovering the procedure soon turned to anger when she found that it was not available on the NHS, and she would be forced to go private.

'I wanted firstly to raise awareness of this procedure, so women know that there is an alternative to hysterectomies, and secondly I wanted to campaign for its availability on the NHS,' said Mrs Buckton.

She enlisted the help of her local MP, Hugh Bayley, and the North Yorkshire Health Authority recently wrote to Mr Bayley saying it would fund research into UAE.Mrs Buckton, who is now concentrating on increasing public awareness of the procedure, and campaigning for further funding, said her legal training had helped her 'enormously' in the crusade.

'I have the necessary skills to write letters and argue my case clearly,' she said.

'Being a solicitor also gives you immediate respectability and higher standing, and people tend to listen more to what you have to say.'Victoria MacCallum