Streeting relaunches women’s health strategy to tackle ‘medical misogyny’ | NHS
Wes Streeting has vowed to prevent women being “gassed” by doctors as he relaunches his women’s health strategy for England.
Speaking ahead of the publication of the revamped strategy on Wednesday, Streeting said the NHS was “failing women” and had set out measures to help them access the healthcare they need.
The government said the strategy would include a new standard of care that would see women offered painkillers for invasive procedures such as contraceptive coil insertion and hysteroscopy.
The feedback will be tied directly to provider funding through a new trial, giving women the power to stop paying for paid healthcare if they have a bad experience.
Action will also be taken to ensure women no longer have to wait long for a diagnosis of conditions such as endometriosis, which can take up to a decade to be diagnosed.
A. last month report An investigation by the Women and Equalities Committee found gynecological and menstrual health was “not given sufficient priority” by the government.
MPs expressed parts of the 10-year women’s health strategy as follows: Released in 2022 It was at risk of being downsized or discontinued due to wider changes to the NHS by the Conservatives. These included initiatives that reduced waiting lists and improved women’s access to healthcare, such as women’s health centres.
Committee chair and Labor MP Sarah Owen said: “This would be a disaster for girls and women’s menstrual health services, where more support is desperately needed.
“It is a national scandal that, while there are effective treatments available in primary and community care, if they had access to them, almost half a million women would be on hospital gynecology waiting lists.”
Report said women face “medical misogyny” Women were left to “suck it up” and suffer for years due to lack of awareness of their health status.
Streeting said:[Women] “Women have long been frustrated by a healthcare system that often belittles them, treating their pain as a disorder and their symptoms as an overreaction.”
She added: “Whether it’s being moved from one appointment to the next for conditions such as endometriosis and fibroids, not properly relieving pain during invasive procedures, or even having to deal with symptoms for years before receiving a diagnosis, it’s clear that the system is failing women.
“Women’s voices must be central to the delivery of effective, respectful and empathetic care. We must hit medical misogyny where it hurts: in the wallet. Today’s renewed strategy will solve the problems women face every day and ensure that no woman struggles to be heard.”
Other plans include a £1 million menstrual education program to help girls better understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy periods.
The redesign of clinical pathways for some women’s health problems will aim to speed up diagnosis and treatment, and support for families experiencing recurrent infant loss will be reviewed.
The government has also promised a “single point of referral” to ensure women are directed to the right place when they seek first aid.
Dr Sue Mann, NHS England’s director of women’s health, said too many women were being laid off due to “serious symptoms” affecting every aspect of their lives. “The renewed women’s health strategy will contribute significantly to the NHS’s work to give women’s voices a voice and get the specialist care they need,” he said.
Women’s health groups cautiously welcomed the revamped strategy. Emma Cox, chief executive of Endometriosis UK, said decisive action was vital to improve women’s health in England.
