£25 million for women’s health hubs
A £25 million investment will provide more women’s health hubs, improving access to high-quality local care tailored to the needs of women.
The expansion of the women’s health hub model across the country was encouraged in the Department of Health and Social Care’s Women’s Health Strategy for England, presented to parliament in August 2022.
In March, Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay announced that £25 million would be invested over the next two years to accelerate the development of new women’s health hubs to benefit women across England and help to ease pressure on GPs and other frontline NHS services.
What are women’s health hubs?
The women’s health hub model focuses on delivering services in the community that better fit around women’s lives and streamline access to women’s health services, including help with menstrual issues, contraception, pelvic pain and menopause care.
The hubs aim to provide a more ‘joined up’ approach. Currently, women need to attend multiple appointments with family doctors and other healthcare professionals to get care for different problems. Women’s health hubs bring services together, for example offering consultations on management of contraception and heavy bleeding or combining cervical screening with other aspects of women’s preventative healthcare.
What are the advantages?
Improving the healthcare experience for women is the key benefit of women’s health hubs. In addition, by consolidating women’s healthcare in easy-to-access local hubs, the model takes pressure off GPs and those working in other frontline healthcare jobs, such as community nurses. Hubs can also deliver longer-term savings for the NHS and relieve pressure on hospitals by improving access to preventative care.
What has been the reaction to the new funding?
The expansion of the women’s health hubs model has been broadly welcomed by organisations representing healthcare professionals, including GPs and senior doctors. However, concerns have been expressed about existing workforce pressures and the impact this will have on recruitment.
A joint statement has been issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health and the British Menopause Society. They call for investment in the training and development of the workforce to support delivery of the hubs. They also highlight the importance of workforce planning to ensure that hubs have the skills and healthcare roles needed to deliver high-quality care for all aspects of women’s health.
“The RCGP welcomes the concept of the women’s health hub model and working closely with our secondary care and community colleagues to provide integrated services for women,” commented RCGP Chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne. “For there to be sustainable improvements in the treatment of women’s health, and harness the benefits of a flexible hub model, we need to see a focus on equipping primary care with funding, staffing capacity to allow us to use our skills and knowledge to consistently deliver high-quality care.”
