With the NHS struggling to clear huge backlogs in surgeries and screenings and facing continued pressure from Covid-related staff absences, it is a difficult time for him to take on another great challenge. But ministers have promised to “reset the dial” on gender inequalities in health care, with the publication of the first government-led women’s health strategy.
The pressures of the pandemic have only exacerbated health inequalities. Figures released by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) earlier this year revealed that gynecology waiting lists across the UK saw a 60% increase on pre-pandemic levels: the largest percentage increase of all elective majors. Now that a women’s health strategy is needed more than ever, this reform agenda is welcome.
The strategy seems to correspond only vaguely to the six priority areas outlined in December, based on a consultation with 100,000 women. Menstrual health and gynecological conditions figure prominently.
Endometriosis, a painful condition in which the tissue that lines the uterus grows in other parts of the pelvis, is mentioned six times in the statement and this is an obvious area for improvement. It affects about one in 10 women of childbearing age, but diagnosis takes an average of eight years, even though the condition is progressive and can affect fertility.
The introduction of infant loss certificates will be welcomed as an important way for the health system to recognize and validate patients’ experience of miscarriage. It won’t change the most important outcome, the loss of a baby, but it can help change how patients feel about their care and may make them feel better able to talk to employers and others about the impact this has had. in them.
The strategy is the latest in a series of nimble moves by the government on women’s health in the past year – changes that didn’t require a huge investment but needed someone to take the time to think about and can make a difference. significant difference.
Other changes include expanding the home supply of abortion pills, expanding access to HRT, including the availability of vaginal estrogen tablets without a prescription, and banning harmful “virginity repair” operations.
However, other supposed priorities seem to have disappeared. Mental healthSurprisingly, there is no mention at all in Wednesday’s statement, and there is little about the lifecycle approach to women’s health that the government’s new ambassador for women’s health, Professor Dame Lesley Regan, has championed for a long time.
Some elements have appeared out of nowhere without much clarity on how they fit in with the broader goals of the government. There’s £10m for mobile breast cancer screening units, for example, which is clearly not a bad thing, but is this investment really linked to the existence of a women’s health strategy or was it all happening modes as part of the planned recovery program? ? It would be a shame if the strategy became an umbrella to publicize disparate initiatives related to women’s health.
The strategy sets out the ambition to address deeper cultural issues, with plans for an expansion of women’s health training for incoming physicians. However, culture in health is not simply marked by knowledge, but also by values.
The current focus on women’s health has been fueled by a series of scandals, ranging from maternal deaths, rogue surgeons and vaginal mesh implants. All of these seemingly unrelated events arose and were facilitated in a system that does not place enough inherent value on women’s health.
The government has an important role in determining which areas of health are prioritized, but some of the most important and promising ideas in its strategy, including women’s health centers across the country, still have no targets or committed funding.
Such concrete commitments will be essential to achieving the ambitious goal of closing the gender gap in health and helping women live well.
