Women in Chesterfield and across the country will be better served by the NHS under new plans set out in Labour’s renewed Women’s Health Strategy.
Too many women are still subject to systems that don’t listen to their experiences or understand their needs.
This will change under Labour’s plans to give women faster access to diagnosis and treatment for condition like endometriosis and fibroids, improved pain relief standards, and new measures to hold providers accountable when women’s concerns are ignored.
Chesterfield MP, Toby Perkins, warmly welcomed the Women’s Health Strategy. He said: “Every day women receive outstanding care from the NHS, but also every day there are some women whose needs are overlooked, who are forced to suffer in silence. This Strategy is an important step forward in tackling some of the health issues facing women and giving them more of a voice in their own healthcare.”
Other reforms set out in the renewed strategy include launching a new £1 million programme to improve menstrual education, establishing a women’s voices partnership to help inform future policy and decision making, and update guidance on how different levels of support should work for families who experience repeated baby loss.
More widely, Labour will continue working to transform NHS performance to serve women, and everyone, better. Gynaecology waiting lists have already fallen by over 30,000 since June 2024 when this Government came into power, bolstered by record spending in the NHS and wider plans to tackle waiting lists through the 10 Year Health Plan.
Toby Perkins added, “This strategy is one step of many that this Labour Government is taking to transform the NHS. Whilst there is still much more to do, we have delivered more than 5 million extra appointments in the first year of this government
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “We inherited a broken NHS, which was particularly felt by women, who have for so long been let down by a healthcare system that too often gaslights women, treating their pain as an inconvenience and their symptoms as an overreaction.
“Whether it’s being passed from one appointment to another for conditions like endometriosis and fibroids, or a lack of proper pain relief during invasive procedures, through to having to navigate symptoms for years before receiving a diagnosis, it’s clear the system is failing women.
“Women’s voices must be central to delivering effective, respectful and empathetic care. We need to hit medical misogyny where it hurts – the wallet. Today’s renewed strategy will tackle the issues women face everyday and ensure no woman is left fighting to be heard.”
You can read the Women’s Health Strategy here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/womens-voices-to-be-at-the-heart-of-renewed-health-strategy