WOMEN in Warrington receive less than £13 each in menopause treatments, data shows.

The data, from the BBC's Shared Data Unit, highlights that across 24,388 women in Warrington aged 45-60 years old, each woman received an average of £12.61.

There are also no NHS-run or private menopause clinics within Warrington or Cheshire, according to the data.

A number of different medications were prescribed during the study, which was collated over a 12-month period by Oxford University.

Medication data was taken across six different common prescription drugs.

According to a health minister in summer, Maria Caufield, demand for HRT prescriptions has risen by 30 per cent.

There were concerns that the supply of some common HRT prescriptions would suffer, due to a shortage of certain drugs following the increase in demand.

LiveWire recently announced a scheme to help women in Warrington who are going through the menopause.

One expert, Dr Anne Connolly MBE, said: "Some women really suffer with symptoms.

"We know that has an impact physically, socially, psychologically, and sexually. It depends on how bad the symptoms are and what those specific symptoms are.

"We see big numbers of women leaving work because they feel unconfident to continue because their concentration isn’t the same.

"They’re tired, they have memory loss etc. We’re losing women in the workplace because of their symptoms."

During the study, it was recorded that Warrington saw 18,541 prescriptions of common HRT drugs to women - across the clinical commissioning group for Cheshire, there were 67,662 prescriptions.

Combining spending across Warrington CCG and Cheshire CCG, the NHS spend totalled £1,434,761.

Diane Danzebrink, from Menopause Support charity, said: "Some waiting lists at NHS menopause clinics are 18 months. We’re used to them being three to six months, but people can’t wait 18 months.

"It’s forcing more and more people to seek private menopause care. And that can be very costly. You’re often talking about several hundred pounds, and that can go up sharply with private prescriptions.

There are going to be millions of women across the country who could never consider the idea of private menopause care and are being left to suffer in silence.

"In 2022, that’s a disgrace."

A spokesperson for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside in Warrington said: "There are a number of reasons which might affect someone choosing to come forward for menopause treatment, which will impact how much is spent on medication.

"We’re committed to assessing the needs of our communities to ensure they have access to appropriate menopause treatment and support when it's needed.

“We’re also supporting local partners in raising the profile of menopause support and education and in gathering insight into how services can improve through programmes like Live Wire’s menopause six-week support scheme and Healthwatch Warrington’s survey on women’s health services.”