The House | Without relentless focus, the Women’s Health Strategy will fall short of its promise

4 min read48 min

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has launched a renewed women’s health strategy, promising to “tackle the issues women face every day and ensure no woman is left fighting to be heard”. Accompanied by campaigner Vicky Pattison sharing her personal story, it was clear the Health Secretary meant business.

This took me back nearly 7 years to my interview to become a previous health secretary’s lead policy advisor. Our 30-minute slot was squeezed into 10 minutes. He cut straight to the chase: “Why do you want this job?”

“I want to transform women’s health,” I said.

“Out of everything, why that?” he asked.

That question itself is part of the problem.

I was conscious of stories from friends and loved ones demonstrating how women were being underserved. From the friend who almost died giving birth because her concerns weren’t listened to, despite being a medical professional herself.

To another dealing with crippling endometriosis pain and fertility problems that went undiagnosed. To a family member who spent 5 years fighting to get a chronic autoimmune disease diagnosed. It was clear women were not being heard, and their pain wasn’t being taken seriously.

Something needed to be done.

I got the job, and we made plans. But then came a general election, and then the response to Covid became the focus. Still, I knew we needed to keep women’s health policy alive. This was spurred by a conversation in the department about waiting lists, when one health official suggested ignoring gynaecological condition numbers altogether as they weren’t “life-threatening”. The health secretary thankfully refused.

In early 2021, still amid the Covid response, we launched a public call for evidence. I was determined that it would reach as many people as possible. Because whatever any politician of any political party says, the women’s health agenda is and will never be prioritised. That’s the reality, whether we like it or not.

I knew that, therefore, we needed a mandate from as many people as possible to keep our plans going, regardless of what else demanded the government’s attention.

Women had plenty to say. We received 100,000 responses, which shaped the first-ever Women’s Health Strategy for England, published in July 2022, just before summer recess and the end of the Boris Johnson government.

Was the strategy perfect? No. There was much more that campaigners, colleagues, and I wanted to include. Some internal battles were lost, and less funding was secured than desired. Some hard-earned political capital was expended, which did, however, mean that some big battles were won, too.

From baby loss certificates to equality of IVF for female same-sex couples, to women’s health hubs across the country. More importantly, we engineered a systematic shift. We put the life cycle approach front and centre, rather than looking at issues in isolation. There was a section on ‘women’s voices’ acknowledging that women weren’t being listened to. A section on ‘education and training for health and care professionals,’ recognising this is where change must start. Vitally, there was a section on ‘research and evidence’ — a woefully underserved area in women’s health.

I left government a few months after publication, extremely conscious of leaving the strategy in others’ hands.

Campaigners kept up pressure, and former colleagues kept the momentum going. But government priorities fell elsewhere, and progress has been more limited than it should have been.

It’s truly encouraging that this Labour government has published its own women’s health plan, continuing with the direction we set in 2022 in many areas. The focus on tackling medical misogyny and putting women’s experiences at the heart of NHS assessments is welcome. There has also been a pledge to protect and prioritise funding for women’s health specialist services.

The renewed strategy fairly suggests that while the first one had “the right problem statement, it had nothing like the means to deliver real and lasting change,” and, listening to Streeting, I genuinely believe he wants to see full systemic change.

But it will need relentless focus and drive to keep this agenda moving. It requires passion and political authority to drive it forward, and no fear about burning bridges or political capital —someone who, despite everything else happening, will keep this going in the background.

Without that, despite goodwill and intentions, this publication will sit on a shelf. And that, for women, will be yet another disappointment.

Emma Dean is a Senior Partner at Portland. She was previously a Special Adviser in the Department of Health and Social Care, and led on the first Women’s Health Strategy for England.