Refreshed Women's Health Strategy published

Strategy foreword from Wes Streeting - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care 

"The NHS has a problem with basic, everyday sexism and an appalling culture of medical misogyny. 

"Almost every week, I hear profoundly shocking stories from victims of some the NHS’s worst scandals. Women whose babies died in our care when they could have lived, women who have been treated appallingly by medical professionals and left in agony, disfigured and traumatised by botched surgery and negligent care. Each story is unique, each told with heart-breaking clarity and each with a common theme: that at their moment of greatest vulnerability, they were let down by the very people they placed their trust in. 

"Being ignored, gaslit, humiliated and disrespected are all-too-common experiences for far too many women. More than eight in 10 say there have been times when healthcare professionals did not listen to them. I have seen examples of it in my own family, and you may have examples in yours. Failure to listen is how we end up with tragic cases like Jessica Brady, who died from cancer after her condition was missed - or dismissed - despite more than 20 appointments at her GP practice. 

"We have introduced Jess’s Rule in her memory so that GP teams have to 'reflect, review and rethink' if a patient presents three times with the same or escalating symptoms. We have also stood up a rapid investigation into maternity services, taken urgent action to bring down gynaecology waiting lists, made the morning-after pill available for free at high street pharmacies, and introduced menopause questions into routine health checks. 

"But there is so much more to do because the blunt reality is this: though founded on principals of equality, the NHS is failing women and girls on even the most basic measures of healthcare. 

"Gaping health inequalities exist, not only between men and women - women spend more years in ill health than men, despite living longer - but also among women. The wealthiest 10% of women live almost 10 years longer than the poorest 10%, while the most deprived spend over a third of their lives in bad health. There are also ethnic differences in outcomes and risk factors.

"Our renewed Women’s Health Strategy is our response to these injustices. It takes forward the work of the previous Government and goes further and faster to fill the holes they left. It sets out how we will bring a relentless focus to deliver women’s health priorities, support them to lead healthy, fulfilling lives and ensure that women are considered fully in healthcare research and innovation. All of this will be underpinned by an NHS that finally listens with respect, dignity and compassion to the voices and the choices of every woman and every girl, every time. 

"Of course, every day women receive outstanding, compassionate care from dedicated NHS staff. But one woman forced to suffer in silence by a system that fails them is one too many. Our mission is to dismantle the culture and ingrained behaviours that allow medical misogyny to fester and grow. 

"That work has already begun and our renewed Women's Health Strategy promises a fairer, healthier future for women and girls everywhere."