The Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP
Chair, Women and Equalities Select Committee
Jasmin Adebisi
Policy Manager (Health), Policy Connect
Despite the greater national focus on women’s health outcomes, the progress has been too slow. We must ensure all women can access safe and truly personalised care.
In recent years, there has been a greater focus on women’s health outcomes across government and policy. This welcomed development has led to the women’s health strategy and several independent inquiries into how women’s health services are managed across the UK.
Existing disparities
Following the stalled Health Disparities White Paper, which would feed into a greater condition’s strategy, we question: have women been left behind once again?
Across women’s health, there remain stark disparities, and there had been some serious commitments to tackling them in the Women’s Health Strategy. But the demise of the Disparities White Paper spells bad news for the momentum of the Maternity Disparities Taskforce, which is reaching its first year since establishment.
While the Strategy engages with women as service users, it acknowledges that disparities between different groups of women still exist. This was also one of the main findings at the All-Party Parliamentary Health Group (APHG) and Policy Connect’s roundtable held in November 2022.
Research has attributed 12% of stillbirths in England to ethnic inequality, and 24% of stillbirths to socioeconomic inequality.
Maternal health
Recent research has attributed 12% of stillbirths in England to ethnic inequality, and 24% of stillbirths to socioeconomic inequality. Addressing health disparities will help deliver on the Government’s ambition to halve rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths by 2025.
The Government must deliver a clear, accountable and collaborative action plan — one that takes an intersectional and cross-sectional approach to eliminate the health inequalities currently experienced by women from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
Expanding access
Recent reports from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) show a decline in the ratings women gave their care over the last five years, with particular concerns regarding staff availability. Ensuring we have the right numbers of doctors, midwives, nurses and other professionals is essential for the NHS to meet rising demand from mothers and families to deliver safer care.
The upcoming trial for the Tommy App in summer 2023, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will provide a Clinical Decision Support Tool, enabling healthcare staff to assess each woman’s need more accurately during pregnancy. The tool aims to reduce the variation in care across the NHS and ensures that each woman is offered the right care at the right time. Policy Connect and the APHG will continue the vital work in addressing health inequalities in all aspects of care and its access as part of its upcoming 2023 programme.
