Every Integrated Care System is to have at least one Women’s Health Hub as part of a wide-ranging plan to provide support with health issues from contraception to menopause, menstrual problems and conditions such as endometriosis.
This is one part of a five-point plan for women’s health in 2024 announced by the Health Secretary Victoria Atkins in a speech at the Women’s Health Summit this week.
Delivered through a £25m investment, the health hubs will improve access to care for women, improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities, with the aim being to establish one fully-functioning hub in each local area this year.
“Women’s health hubs benefit women, and they benefit our NHS,” Victoria Atkins said. “They boost efficiency, they reduce unnecessary hospital referrals, and they end the obstacle course of appointments women face to find the care they need. This is why we support them, and this is why we are expanding them.”
The other four parts of the plan are to: provide maternity care that every mother can have faith in; offer better care for menstrual problems; improve fairness and tackle inequalities and disparities; carry out more research into the health needs of women.
The Health Secretary also announced that Dame Lesley Regan is to be reappointed as Women’s Health Ambassador for another two years.
