Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Women’s Health Strategy for England

Tuesday 24 January 2023 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Last summer, the UK government published the first Government-led women's health strategy for England, outlining a 10-year ambition to improve women's health and wellbeing.
  • The strategy includes eight priorities for the first year and is rolling out women's health hubs across the country.
  • The government is collating and publishing data on the commissioning of fertility services as part of work with integrated care boards.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alex Davies-Jones Lab Pontypridd
Women & Equalities
Context

The question arises from the need to implement policies for improving women's health.

Question

What recent steps have been taken to implement the women's health strategy for England?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

Last summer we published the first Government-led women's health strategy for England, which sets out our 10-year ambition to boost the health and wellbeing of women and girls and to improve how the health and care system listens to them. I am pleased that we have set out the first eight priorities for the first year of the women's health strategy, and that we are already delivering on many of them.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify concrete steps or timeline for implementation.

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Q2 Ellie Reeves Lab Lewisham West and East Dulwich
NHS Women & Equalities
Context

The number of maternity units failing to meet safety standards has risen significantly under Conservative government, affecting thousands of women.

Question

After 13 years of Conservative Government, more than half of maternity units now consistently fail to meet safety standards. Almost 40,000 women now wait over a year for gynaecological treatment, up from just 15 women 10 years ago. Women in the poorest areas are dying earlier than the average female in almost every comparable country. At every stage of a woman's life, her health is being compromised. When will these failures be reversed, and when will we see real investment in the NHS workforce and in women's health?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

I am sorry that the hon. Lady does not welcome our announcement of this country's first women's health strategy, which is putting women as a priority at the heart of the health service. We have eight priorities for this year. We are rolling out women's health hubs around the country as a one-stop shop to make healthcare more accessible to women. We are improving women's health provision by setting out a women's health area, with reliable information, on the NHS website.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not address reversal of failures or investment in workforce.

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Q3 Alex Davies-Jones Lab Pontypridd
NHS Women & Equalities
Context

There has been no progress on publishing national data on the provision and availability of IVF despite it being a stated intention in the women's health strategy.

Question

A stated intention of the women's health strategy is to explore mechanisms to publish national data on the provision and availability of IVF, on which there has since been no Government progress. This issue affects families and would-be parents across the country. We know all too well that a postcode lottery exists, and it is just not good enough. Will the Minister support my private Member's Bill to address this issue, which is due to have its Second Reading on 24 March?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

I pay tribute to the hon. Lady for the work she is doing in this space. I was in the Chamber when she presented her Bill last week and I can reassure her that, as part of the work we are doing with integrated care boards, we are collating and publishing data on the commissioning of fertility services, so that women in each part of the country can not only see what services are available to them, but compare what is being offered locally. That is happening in England; I cannot comment about what is being done in Wales.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not explicitly support or reject private Member's Bill.

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Q4 Chloe Smith Con
NHS Employment
Context

The Minister provided an update on the women's health strategy, focusing on its role in supporting women's health needs in the workplace.

Question

I welcome that update, and the tone and, as always, the calm confidence with which the Minister provides it. Does she agree with me and with the Chancellor that the NHS has to help people back into work?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

I thank my right hon. Friend for her kind words. I absolutely agree on that, which is why helping women back into work and dealing with their health issues in the workplace is one of the first eight priorities of the women's health strategy. We are working with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions on that.

Answered
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Q5 Philip Hollobone Con
NHS
Context

The announcement of enhanced breast cancer facilities at Kettering General Hospital was welcomed as an example of the type of investment needed to improve women's health services.

Question

I welcome the recent announcement of enhanced breast cancer facilities at Kettering General Hospital. Is that not just the sort of extra investment we need to improve the delivery of women's health services?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

I thank my hon. Friend, who has always been campaigning for better health services in Kettering. Let me reiterate what he has just said: that announcement followed the announcement last week of £10 million for NHS breast screening services, to provide 29 new mobile units and static breast care units across England.

Answered
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Q6 Feryal Clark Lab Enfield North
NHS Women & Equalities
Context

The women's health strategy has failed to deliver on its promises, such as the clinical lead position in the NHS.

Question

The women's health strategy was an opportunity to fundamentally change the inequalities women face. Women were promised a clinical women's health lead in the NHS, yet a former Health Minister admitted that there has not even been a discussion about establishing the role. Women in east Kent were promised change after the damning review of local maternity services, yet the Care Quality Commission is now threatening the trust there with enforcement action. Time after time, women's voices are at best being ignored and at worst being silenced. So I ask the Minister: when will this Government stop letting women down with empty promises? Is the women's health strategy worth the paper it was written on?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

Perhaps the shadow Minister will reflect on her comments when she receives the “Dear colleague” letter later today outlining the eight priorities areas for our first year of the strategy, with work such as the prepayment certificate for hormone replace treatment being done already; it is launching in April and saving women hundreds of pounds on the cost of HRT.

Not addressed: Did not address failures or credibility directly.

How: Criticizing Opposition

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