RCOG calls for a refreshed Women’s Health Strategy

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued a call to action for the government to revise and strengthen the Women’s Health Strategy for England following the publication of the NHS 10-year plan.

While the 10-year plan sets out a bold vision for the future NHS – focusing on shifting care from hospitals to communities, embracing digital and prioritising prevention – the reality is that there is “little detail” on how and when these ambitions will deliver for women and the women’s workforce. RCOG warns that, without a renewed and strengthened Women’s Health Strategy, there’s a risk that the “green shoots” of progress achieved so far could be lost, undermining the future of women’s health in England.

A commitment to specific targeted action is required to ensure all parts of the system are clear on what actions they must take to deliver better care for all women across their life course.

Introduced in 2022, the Women’s Health Strategy set out a decade long vision to improve outcomes for women, including creating women’s health hubs and improving access to treatment. RCOG analysis of the strategy has identified meaningful progress across several areas in the three years but says “overall progress” on delivering on the Strategy is “patchy”. These include record-high gynaecology waiting lists, underfunded women’s health hubs, disparities in maternity outcomes, and widening health inequalities. 
RCOG has urged the government to update the Women’s Health Strategy this year to align with the 10-year NHS plan and to adopt a review cycle every three years.

Among the recommendations are actions on:

• Women’s health hubs: Government and Integrated Care Boards need to continue to build on the progress of the hubs (as part of the shift to neighbourhood health services), which must include plans for how the government will monitor the provision of hubs.
• Menstrual and gynaecological health: Improving research that is still needed to improve women’s healthcare, including actions to incentivise funders and academia to focus on women’s health, including support for the Reproductive Health Survey for England. All while improving menstrual health education.
• Improving sexual and reproductive health: Focused work on access to contraception and abortion services together with accelerating research and innovation.
• Cancer care: Specific actions on how the cervical cancer elimination plan will be delivered together with focus on preventing cancer.

Part three of our FemHealth Focus series explores the NHS’s vital role in advancing women’s health in the UK, notwithstanding the current structural and financial pressures.

As the NHS embarks on its next chapter, RCOG’s message is clear: meaningful progress in women’s health requires focused, sustained commitment and funding. Without it, it places at risk the promise that “never again will women’s health be neglected” and fails to deliver a healthier future for 51% of the population.

For those who invest in solutions (whether investors and innovators) that centre on women’s health, not only will they drive better outcomes, but they’ll also help shape the future of women’s healthcare.