In a new blog, RCOG President, Dr Alison Wright reflects on the publication of the renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England.
As frontline clinicians, it can sometimes feel as though we are fighting in an uphill battle - particularly in women's health, where the needs of our patients do not receive the priority they deserve.
The renewed Women’s Health Strategy has the potential to change that. It puts women's health high on the political agenda and creates the conditions to genuinely improve services for the women we care for every day. It also it reflects something that the College should be proud of: when we speak with one voice, backed by the evidence, we will be heard.
The original Strategy had its roots in our own Better for Women report back in 2019. When we evaluated progress last summer, it became clear that a renewed Strategy was needed - one that truly reflected the realities facing women and the O&G workforce today. We made that case directly, and it was heard. The new Strategy contains direct references to College recommendations, and that influence is something I am proud of.
What this Strategy gets right
The Strategy’s ambition matches exactly what the College has long championed: it puts women's voices and experiences at the centre of their care.
Systemic medical misogyny and accounts of women's conditions being left undiagnosed and untreated are deeply concerning to us all. Our members are absolutely committed to listening to women and driving improvements in their care and outcomes. The initiatives set out in this Strategy have the potential to facilitate us to do this.
It is good to see stronger commitments around reproductive choice. A significant criticism of the 2022 Strategy was that it failed to address women's ability to make informed decisions about if and when they become pregnant. The renewed Strategy responds to that gap directly, with commitments to improve access to contraception and abortion care, expand access to long-acting reversible contraception and increase surgical abortion capacity. These are the kinds of concrete changes that will make a real difference to women's reproductive health and choices.
The commitment to streamlining gynaecology care - reducing waiting times, speeding up diagnosis, standardising care pathways, and shifting more services into the community is critical. The latest NHS England data, published last week, finds that there are still over 564,000 women waiting for gynaecological care. While the numbers have showed early signs of falling, this is still an unacceptable number of women waiting too long for care. We will work closely with Government on this, ensuring that clinical voices shape how the changes are implemented.
I am also encouraged by the attention given to women's health across the full life course. The investment in menstrual health education in schools, the Cervical Cancer elimination plan, and public health reforms including advertising bans, are all important steps.
What we will be watching closely
A Strategy is only as strong as its implementation. There are areas where we will want to work with Government to ensure the detail matches the ambition.
Women waiting for gynaecology care told us in our own research that they want better information and group support while they wait. The commitment to fund regional specialist centres for group-based approaches to care is a direct and welcome response to that. Now we need to understand how women will actually access these services and how this will be delivered within the year.
We hear from the Government that women’s health hubs are being rolled out across the country. But we still need clarity around how Hubs fit within neighbourhood health structures and how they will be funded in the long term. This is particularly important, as they remain ‘optional’ and at the discretion of local ICBs in the latest NHS England guidance for regions on neighbourhood health centres. Without central support, they risk being lost. The shift to neighbourhood-based healthcare cannot be ‘optional’ for women.
The Strategy will trial linking trust reimbursement to women's feedback on their care, including pain management. Whilst it is absolutely right that women's voices should drive change, in practice, this is something the College will need to watch closely. We will continue to advocate that trusts should be supported to tackle systemic issues behind poorer experiences, rather than being financially punished because of them.
Our workforce
None of this ambition can be realised without the people to deliver it. I know (and have personal experience) that the workforce is already under enormous pressure. Our 2025 Workforce Census found that 68% of O&G doctors always or often work beyond their contracted hours, driven by staff shortages.
This is the same workforce we are asking to deliver this an ambitious Strategy. If we are to achieve our collective ambitions, alongside listening to women, we must support the workforce through safe staffing and training. I will continue to make this case on behalf of our members, and the women we look after, at every opportunity.
Our commitment
This is about building a healthcare system that works for women and allows clinicians to deliver the very best care. I want to assure our members that the College will continue to work as a committed partner to the Government, the NHS and women themselves to make sure the ambition in this document becomes a reality.