Improving the health of women: why women’s health hubs matter

In this year’s June message from the President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Dr Ranee Thakar reflects on the work the RCOG have been doing advocating for the health of women and girls. Advocacy is central to the College’s mission, Thakar explains and that’s why the College sets out nine questions the 10-year Health Plan needs to address if it wants to help drive up the quality of care. Amongst them is funding for Women’s Health Hubs.

The College’s upcoming World Congress taking place in London later this month will include a feature session on the Women’s Health Strategy with Dame Lesley Regan, the UK’s Women’s Health Ambassador and Sue Mann, National Clinical Director for Women’s Health. The session will cover progress made on the strategy and where work is urgently required, including addressing the long gynaecology waiting lists and implementing Women’s Health Hubs. 

With healthcare services under significant pressure and the NHS entering a critical period of change (the NHS-10 Year Plan is expected in the coming weeks), Ranee Thakar is concerned about NHS England’s recent directive to Integrated Care Boards to reduce elective referrals and its likely impact on women’s health. 

In a recent Health Service Journal £ article, Thakar argues that the withdrawal of funding for Women’s Health Hubs is not only ‘contradictory’ but ‘it’s short-sighted’. ‘Women’s health hubs have already demonstrated an ability to reduce unnecessary referrals into secondary care services, improve access for patients, and address longstanding inequalities in women’s healthcare.’ 

She explains that the gynaecology waiting lists cannot be addressed by hospital services alone and the solution, in part, lies in community-based models such as health hub models. Thakar points to the success of the Hubs outlined in the RCOG’s report, Waiting for a way forward: Voices of women and healthcare professionals at the centre of the gynaecology care crisis. The report spotlights Birmingham’s Women’s Health Hub, the Modality gynaecology service founded by Dr Aamena Salar, a GP specialising in women’s health in 2016. The Birmingham hub delivers up to 1,000 appointments each month, with less than 10% onward referral rate to secondary care. 

Even the Government’s cost benefit analysis published in March 2024 found the model to be ‘good value for money’ because of the benefits of hub’s impact on a substantial proportion of the population.  

Supporting the 51%

As we await the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, we hope it commits to expanding Women’s Health Hubs, which are crucial to improving efficiency and equity in the health and care system. 

Our content explained