All the manifestos have been published and we head to vote on the 4th July. Spending on the NHS is a proposed priority for most parties as well as a high concern (ahead of inflation) for the public (IPSOS, May 2024).
A group of professional and patient experts have distilled the recommendations from major UK reports, inquiries, and strategies from the last 10 years and created a shortlist of 15 key “asks” around women’s health. These include ensuring women’s engagement throughout the process of policy creation, action on gender-based violence and health inequalities, coordinated healthcare for women through health hubs, and assessment of the economic impact of policies on women. These asks – all fundamental to improving women’s healthcare – were then scored across the manifestos for strengths and weaknesses regarding their inclusion (or not). There was little to choose from between major parties’ coverage of women’s health in their manifestos. All scored 8-9/30, except for Reform which scored 0.
At Eve, we know that women’s health is stalled by a number of issues including a lack of investment in research, inadequate inclusion of women in clinical trials, minimisation of symptoms like abnormal bleeding, a lack of services tailored to specific audiences with different needs and under investment in public and community health.
The expert analysis of all the manifestos through the lens of women’s health identified two issues as being of key concern—inclusion of women in clinical research and trials, and preconception healthcare. These did not feature in any manifestos. Other issues relevant to gynaecological cancer prevention, such as ensuring policy is built in consultation with women, tackling the 600,000 (and growing) NHS gynaecology waiting lists, and establishing women’s health hubs, were considered by none or only one of the three major parties, showing that there is a real risk that women’s health in the UK could fall down the policy agenda.
We need a long-term plan for women’s health alongside a national cancer plan. We need to look at the targets and commitments that have been made – including the goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, and plot out how we are going to get there. Collaboration between patients, charities, clinicians and policy makers is critical to this. Building plans on expertise, evidence and a commitment to addressing health inequalities and inequities is vital to improving gynaecological healthcare.
And lastly, we can’t look after women’s health without looking after the specialist staff who gynaecological healthcare depends upon. The GPs, the nurses, the pathologists, the gynaecologists, the surgeons, the oncologists, the colposcopists, the ultrasound specialists. And please don’t forget the community health practitioners, the pelvic floor physios, the sexual health workers – and many other specialists who are all needed to provide excellent gynaecological health care.
There is no high-quality care if we don’t nurture, develop, adequately train and value the team that delivers it.
References
Credit: Dr Edward Mullins, Dr Kate Womersley, Fardowsa Abdi, Celestine Donovan-Bradley, Eve Trustee Dr Christine Ekechi, Leah Hazard, Dr Jane Hirst, Dr Melanie Nana, Dr Alison Perry, Dr Ana-Catarina Pinho-Gomes, Dr Katherine Ripullone and Stephanie Williams.