Curia and Chamber UK’s Women’s Health Roundtable event this February welcomed expert keynote speakers to discuss the Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto commitments on improving women’s health.
A Radical Rethink of Services Required
Professor Dame Lesley Regan, Women’s Health Ambassador and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London, was the first to take the floor. She stressed the requirement for a “radical rethink” about women’s health provision, specifically relating to the streamlining of services when it comes to waiting times.
With 600,000 women in England waiting for a gynecological appointment, she said it was imperative to educate women to enable them to know when they need support, as well as improving information available and access. Dame Lesley expressed her belief that women’s health hubs are well positioned to have the positive impact needed in women’s health, and had the capacity to simultaneously boost the patients health, whilst improving the working conditions of the medical professionals within them.
Lifting Economic Burdens Through Collaboration
The next speaker, Shobhna Ladva, Head of Women’s Health for UKNI at Bayer, addressed the economic burden of menstrual health. She referred to the NHS confederation who have quoted women’s health as causing £11 billion pounds of economic losses due to individuals staying at home to care for themselves or family members.
She echoed Dame Lesley’s call for improved access to gynaecology services to support the reduction in the waiting list times, and spoke about ways to do this. Ladva said that best practice should be highlighted and shared nationally, for example, the women’s health hubs working effectively in Liverpool and North West London. She also noted the importance of fostering collaborative partnerships and best practice to drive innovation and collaboration in women’s healthcare.
Learn from Women’s Lived Experiences
The next speaker Tanya Simon-Hall, Founder and CEO of the Adeno Gang, illuminated the insight that comes from listening to women’s lived experiences and embedding that learning into healthcare policy. She shared her personal struggles to be heard and diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis due to a lack of understanding from employers and medical professionals.
Her personal experiences, and her work as the Founder of Adeno Gang, has made her an advocate for ways to better integrate women’s voices into the design and delivery of healthcare services, so that change can be achieved. She stressed the importance of community led initiatives, grassroots organisations and patient advocacy groups to bring about this change.
Calling for women’s health to be a national priority, Tanya stressed the need for women’s health education to become a core part of the school curriculum, alongside mandatory training for healthcare professions across all medical disciplines, so that doctors understand the full spectrum of conditions.
Female Led Trusts Get Results
Chief Executive of Central London Community Healthcare Trust (CLCH) and Health Lead for Westminster and the Royal Borough, James Benson shared the work his healthcare trust undertakes in the community across 712 sites, as a female led trust. He and his team have worked hard to understand the inequity in care to enhance care delivery and have used digital care delivery to transform referrals and performance increases.
He shared the incredible reduction in waiting times for 98.3% of the population to below 18 weeks. He spoke of the need to maximise these digital technologies nationally to improve provision across the country.
Reaching Underserved Communities with Innovative Tech
Diana Hill, co-founder of Essential Parent, and Cathreine McClennan, Director Cheshire and Merseyside Women’s Health and Maternity Partnership, at the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, spoke about the Cheshire Merseyside Women’s Health and Maternity App, which has improved access to healthcare resources for underserved groups. They work with health providers around the country, delivering content in 75 languages in line with local requirements and the Women’s Health Strategy.
The app has been researched and designed with support from women’s health organisations across the UK to address maternal health and healthcare inequalities through innovative use of technology. Clients can register on the app, input their area, choose their language and are able to receive research surveys, public health messages.
Over the years research and evaluations have shown that the apps data analytics and digital tools have driven improvements in patient outcomes and system efficiencies within women’s health hubs. By focusing on accessibility and simple content, Essential Parent have been able to reach diverse communities.
Diana and Cathreine also called for other ICBs and NHS Trusts to get in touch to follow Cheshire and Merseyside’s lead and implement the app in their areas.
Final Thought
Today’s key speakers gave real practicable ideas to allow for a robust implementation plan for Labour’s manifesto commitment plans. Speakers highlighted that by following a three-pronged attack via education, collaboration and innovation womens healthcare could become a more streamlined, effective service nation-wide.
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