Following the publication of the Women’s Health Strategy, we examine the Government’s ambitions to tackle gender health inequalities and what work is needed further.
The government has published the first ever Women’s Health Strategy for England to tackle the gender health gap. Following a call for evidence which generated almost 100,000 responses from individuals across England, the strategy sets ambitions to tackle deep-rooted, systemic issues within the health and care system to improve the health and wellbeing of women, and reset how the health and care system listens to women.
Ministers have vowed to tackle decades of systemic and entrenched gender health inequality in England with plans to introduce compulsory women’s health training for doctors, more cancer checks and ‘one-stop shop’ hubs across the NHS.
Access to contraception, IVF, maternity support and mental health services will also be improved, the government has pledged in the strategy.
Baby-loss certificates will be offered to those losing a child before 24 weeks and a national fitness programme will encourage older women to build muscle strength and keep active.
The strategy says: “We heard concerns that women had not been listened to in instances where pain is the main symptom, for example, being told that heavy and painful periods are ‘normal’ or that the woman will ‘grow out of them’.
“Women also told us about speaking to doctors on multiple occasions over many months or years before receiving a diagnosis for conditions such as endometriosis.”
The Government’s annoucement
The Government were proud to announce the strategy, which was due to be published last year and again earlier this year. For the Conservative leadership, this signaled a ground-breaking moment in the fight against health inequalities.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay said:
“It is not right that 51% of our population are disadvantaged in accessing the care they need, simply because of their sex.
The publication of this strategy is a landmark moment in addressing entrenched inequalities and improving the health and wellbeing of women across the country.”
Minister for Women’s Health, Maria Caulfield added:
“When we launched our call for evidence to inform the publication of this strategy, women across the country set us a clear mandate for change.
Tackling the gender health gap will not be easy – there are deep-seated, systemic issues we must address to ensure women receive the same standards of care as men, universally and by default.
This strategy is the start of that journey, but eradicating the gender health gap can’t be done through health services alone. I am calling on everyone who has the power to positively impact women’s health – from employers to doctors and teachers to industry – to join us in our journey.”
Public response
Many have welcomed the strategy given the clear indicators of gender health inequality in wide range of areas. The growing campaigns on menopause and HRT shortages in particular have highlighted the concerns of women to ‘level up’ health outcomes and reduce stigma. The priorities set out from the call of evidence seem to have been loosely followed, addressing education and a focus on pregnancy loss and still births.
However, others have criticised the Government’s delay on the strategy and argue it doesn’t go far enough to address disparities. The Royal College of Obstetricians Gynecologists (RCOG) commented the strategy ignores key areas and highlighted the issue of funding. In their responding statement, RCOG said:
“We are disappointed, though, that the strategy falls short of RCOG recommendations in some areas, for example in its commitments around supporting migrant women’s access to care.
We are also concerned at the lack of dedicated funding to make these ambitions a reality. Confirmed funding to support the instrumental changes the strategy sets out is lacking and with existing budgets already being stretched further each year, it will mean that progress will be slow for vital initiatives like women’s health hubs”
Final thought
From the outset, the Women’s Health Strategy should be viewed as a step forward to a more focused approach to gender health inequality by the Government. Critics will highlight the delay in publishing the strategy, however the Government has at least signaled its ambitions to identify and hopefully tackle an overlooked health inequality between the sexes. The RCOG and other organisations are correct to have concerns over the strategy’s implementation and how such changes will realistically come to fruition – during record-breaking NHS waiting times and restricted funding. The fundamental issue of policy implementation is at the heart of Curia’s NHS Innovation & Life Sciences Commission. The focus of policy should be rewarded but the Government must look at realistic implementation of this strategy.