Helen Dent
Chief Executive Officer, The British In Vitro Diagnostic Association (BIVDA)
Clare Thomason
Director of Delivery, NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSUThe following is the foreword from Curia’s Foreword: Commissioning to Drive Down Inequalities, Specifically Improving Women and Maternity Service Health Outcomes Report, as part of the NHS Innovation Accelerator Conference Series. Find out below how to access the full report.
The third Sprint Workshop of the NHS Innovation Accelerator Conference turned its attention to an area of healthcare long underserved yet increasingly recognised as critical: women’s health. Against a backdrop of persistent health inequalities, workforce pressures, and systemic commissioning challenges, this session brought together an extraordinary breadth of experience – from clinicians, researchers, and innovators to voluntary sector leaders and industry representatives – to confront the realities of women’s health and to chart a path forward.
Women’s health has, for too long, been marginalised – seen as peripheral rather than central to wider health system priorities. Participants spoke candidly about the persistent invisibility of women’s health needs in national plans, procurement frameworks, and innovation pipelines. The result is a landscape where critical conditions such as hyperemesis gravidarum remain overlooked, where cultural barriers and historic distrust inhibit care-seeking, and where early years and preventative interventions struggle for sustainable funding and adoption. The workshop built on a growing recognition that reactive, episodic models of care are inadequate. To meet the needs of women and their families, we must shift towards preventative, community-based approaches that are locally tailored and culturally competent. Discussion underscored the vital role of listening to women – particularly those from deprived and minority backgrounds – whose experiences reveal systemic gaps in access, trust, and care quality. In Walsall, for instance, direct listening exercises have illuminated the structural and cultural barriers that prevent women from engaging with available services, despite good clinical provision.
It was clear that reform must begin with a more holistic understanding of women’s lives. Women are often the linchpins of families and communities, juggling multiple responsibilities and caring roles, frequently at the expense of their own health. Without systemic efforts to address wider determinants – from education and social norms to trust in health services – any innovation risks falling short.
The session surfaced powerful case studies. From Pregnancy Sickness Support’s vital advocacy on hyperemesis to Essential Parent’s preventative health education across multiple languages and regions, contributors showcased what is possible when innovation is shaped by real-world need. Yet all shared a common frustration: that the innovation and adoption system remains fragmented, opaque, and slow to scale solutions even when evidence is clear and outcomes are profound.
A recurring theme was the mismatch between where investments are made and where benefits accrue. Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) were intended to break down organisational siloes, yet cultural and financial barriers persist. Pilots are often repeated unnecessarily, successful innovations sidelined due to procurement fears, and national ambitions falter without local adaptability. Participants called for a more strategic, transparent innovation pipeline, with validated solutions easily accessible to commissioners, and a stronger focus on early years and preventative models that deliver long-term impact.
Importantly, the workshop emphasised that technological solutions alone are insufficient. While digital tools, shared care records, and remote monitoring were acknowledged as important enablers, trust, relationships, and culturally sensitive communication were repeatedly cited as the true foundations for sustainable change. Without trusted intermediaries – whether midwives, community organisations, or culturally competent media – the best interventions will fail to reach those who need them most.
There was also a shared conviction that now is a moment of opportunity. National attention on women’s health, driven by initiatives such as the Women’s Health Strategy and greater public discourse, provides an unprecedented platform for action. Yet seizing this moment requires moving beyond rhetoric towards investment, commissioning reform, and embedding women’s health at the heart of system transformation. This report captures the insights, innovations, and urgent recommendations that emerged from Workshop Three. It reflects a growing consensus that women’s health must no longer be treated as a niche concern, but as fundamental to the future resilience and equity of the health and care system. System leaders, commissioners, innovators, and frontline practitioners must now work together to ensure that women’s health needs are not only heard – but acted upon, with scale, ambition, and urgency.
The full report, which can be accessed here, is free for subscribers of Curia’s Health, Care, and Life Sciences Research Group, public sector and registered charities.
For more information about Curia memberships, reach out to ben.mcdermott@chamberuk.com
