An Ayrshire woman says she is eager to make menopause healthcare more accessible as she prepares to open the area's first menopause clinic later this month.

After two years of research and work, businesswoman Maggie Holloway will be opening the Menopause Health-Matters clinic as a one-stop-shop for people experiencing menopause.

Maggie, from Ayr, has curated an all-female team of staff comprised of GPs, a clinical psychologist, nutrition coach, medical herbalist, master Reiki practitioner and phlebotomist.

The extensive and all-encompassing health facility was inspired by Maggie’s own journey with menopause.

She said: “In my mid-forties I started to have lots of symptoms that I wasn’t aware were perimenopause, because I thought I was far too young for that kind of thing, and they were unusual symptoms – nothing I would have associated with menopause.

“I felt really dizzy and light-headed every single day, and had pain in my head and ears as though someone was crushing my skull some days. It was really awful – and I felt really sick every day.

“I also had problems with my stomach, and I just generally felt really unwell, so I’d gone to my GP. They thought I had a brain tumour and they sent me for MRI scans and lots of different tests which went on for years.

“The more I researched about menopause and HRT and the common symptoms and unusual symptoms, and I found out the number of symptoms women can suffer from, I thought ‘oh my god, this is me and it was menopause all along’.

“I’m so passionate about menopause and women’s health. I’d been speaking to so many friends and friends of friends and giving them help and advice, and I just thought I should open a private clinic here in Ayrshire.”

Demand for the clinic is high, with 600 women on the waiting list for an appointment and access to the various treatments on offer.

Maggie believes that providing holistic approaches to menopause care, such as access to advice on nutrition, exercise and wellness, is just as important as supplying medical treatments.

She added: “Everyone’s menopause is different and everyone experiences different symptoms.

“Some women don’t experience many symptoms physically, but they may suddenly just feel very down - or they may have terrible anxiety and panic attacks that they’ve never had before in their lives.

“We will allocate people an appointment - either with a GP, if that’s what they want, or they may want to see one of our holistic practitioners, if that’s their preference.

“With a GP consultation they can have up to an hour, which is great, because if you go to your usual GP you might have a quick five minutes - and you just can’t possibly discuss all of the symptoms that you experience in five minutes.”

The clinic has now been fully approved by Healthcare Improvement Scotland - and while there is no specific date yet set for its opening, it will be announced soon.

Register your interest and find out more info here: www.menopausehealthmatters.co.uk.