The government has launched a 12 week call for evidence to better understand women’s experiences of health and care system this year to coincide with International Women’s Day.
The call for evidence is expected to form the basis of a landmark government-led Women’s Health Strategy and will include the following six core themes:
Placing women’s voices at the centre of their health and care, Improving the quality and accessibility of information and education on women’s health, ensuring the health and care system understands and is responsive to women’s health and care needs across the life course, Maximising women’s health in the workplace, ensuring research, evidence and data support improvements in women’s health, Understanding and responding to the impacts of Covid-19 on women’s health.
Nadine Dorries, Minister for Women’s Health, said, “Women’s experiences of health care can vary and we want to ensure women are able to access the treatment and services they need. It is crucial women’s voices are at the front and centre of this strategy so we understand their experiences and how to improve their outcomes.
The call for evidence has been designed to be user friendly, quick to fill out and easily accessible from people’s mobiles. People who live with and care for women, organisations with experience of providing services for women and those with an expertise in women’s health are also encouraged to share their views.
Research has shown that although female life expectancy is higher than men in the UK, women on average spend less of their life in good health compared with men. Female life expectancy in this country has been improving more slowly than male life expectancy since the 1980s.
Very little is known about conditions that only affect women including common gynaecological conditions which can have severe impacts on health and wellbeing, but for which there is currently little treatment. A key example of this is endometriosis with the average time for a woman to receive a diagnosis being 7-8 years, and with 40% of women needing 10 or more GP appointments before being referred to a specialist.
Although women make up 51% of the population, there is less evidence and data on how conditions affect women differently. A University of Leeds study showed women with a total blockage of a coronary artery were 59% more likely to be misdiagnosed than men, and found that UK women had more than double the rate of death in the 30 days following heart attack compared with men.
Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch, said, "Women know best when it comes to their health, and every woman in this country should feel heard and respected when it comes to their health. We want women of every age, ethnicity and sexuality, from every walk of life, to respond to our call for evidence so we can develop an ambitious Strategy which puts their views at the centre."
The call for evidence seeks to examine experiences of the whole health and care system, including mental health, addiction services and neurological conditions as well as issues relating specifically to women such as gynaecological conditions, menopause and pregnancy and post-natal support.
