Students studying medicine in England will now have to pass mandatory training to diagnose and treat female health conditions as part of plans to improve women’s health.
It’s part of the government’s long-awaited Women’s Health Strategy, which follows a call for evidence which produced nearly 100,000 responses from the public across England.
In England, women live on average four years longer then men but more of their life is spent in poor health, which can have affect their day-to-day activities. It’s why individuals and charities have spent years campaigning an end to the gender health gap within NHS services.
The new plan sets bold goals to tackle deep-rooted and systemic issues within healthcare to improve “the health and wellbeing of women and reset how the health and care system listens to women”.
The strategy will include key commitments around new research and data gathering the development of women’s health-focused education and training for incoming doctors, improvements to fertility services and ensuring women have access to high quality health information. Though this is fantastic news, it’s also very overdue.
So, what are some of the new measures?
A new investment of £10 million for a breast screening programme
£10 million will be invested for a breast screening programme, which will create 25 new mobile breast screening units. These will be targeted at areas with the greatest challenges of uptake and coverage. This government says this will help tackle health disparities and contribute towards higher early diagnosis rates which are in line with the NHS Long Term Plan.
Previous research has found that young Black women aged 40 or younger in the UK have a higher risk of breast cancer coming back than white women, despite having the same access to healthcare.
Research published in the British Journal of Cancer also found that young Black women are more likely to have larger more aggressive tumours and higher rates of triple negative breast cancer – a type of breast cancer that does not respond to hormone therapies.
Removing additional barriers to IVF for female same-sex couples
Same sex couples will no longer be required to pay for artificial insemination to prove their fertility status and NHS treatment for female same-sex couples will start with six cycles of artificial insemination, prior to accessing IVF services if necessary.
While heterosexual couples are expected to try to conceive for two years before accessing NHS-funded treatment, NICE guidance previously stated that female same-sex couples must undergo six rounds of intrauterine insemination (IUI) from a licensed fertility unit before they’re considered.
They were then offered NHS IUI (usually another six rounds), before being offered IVF. The restrictions are even more complex for male same-sex couples where a surrogate is needed.
The new changes will be significant for female same-sex couples, some of whom have spent thousands of pounds trying to conceive at private clinics.
Improving transparency on provision and availability of IVF
Transparency and provision for prospective parents will allow them to see how their local area performs to address the “postcode lottery” in access to IVF treatment.
Same-sex couples have to contend with restrictions imposed under the IVF postcode lottery on all couples, including age limitations, BMI cut-offs, and restrictions if one partner has a child from a previous relationship. A handful of CCGs have cancelled all free fertility treatment, no matter the couple.
Recognising parents who have lost a child before 24 weeks
A pregnancy loss certificate will be given to parents who have lost a child before 24 weeks in England. Previously, the UK didn’t record miscarriages on a national register, but campaigners and bereaved parents were calling for that to change.
Jane Brewin, CEO of the pregnancy and baby loss charity Tommy’s, previously told HuffPost UK that the current lack of system is limiting research, as well as contributing towards miscarriage stigma.
“Our research estimates that one in four of us will have a miscarriage at some point in our lives – that’s hundreds of thousands of couples enduring this heartbreak every year – but currently we don’t keep national records of these losses,” she said.
Updating specialist endometriosis services
The NHS will ensure that specialist endometriosis services have the most up to date evidence and advice by improving the service specification for extreme endometriosis. This sits alongside the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) review of its guideline on endometriosis.
Endometriosis is a painful condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb starts to grow in other places. Around 1.5 million people in the UK live with the condition, many of whom have had to fight for a diagnosis.
A 2020 report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Endometriosis found that it takes eight years on average to get an endometriosis diagnosis.
According to the research – based on a survey of almost 11,00 people, including patients and healthcare practitioners – 58% of people visited a GP more than 10 times before diagnosis and 43% saw doctors in hospital more than five times.
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