Women's reproductive health conditions

Women and Equalities Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 25 Jul 2023 Closed: 2 May 2025 Parliament page
A short inquiry looking at women’s reproductive health and the challenges that women face when they are being diagnosed and treated for these conditions. The inquiry considers any disparities that exist in the diagnosis and treatment, and the impact of women’s experiences on their health and lives. Read the terms … Read more
21 Recommendations
30 Conclusions
1 Report
4 Oral sessions
2 Letters
4 Events
Activity timeline 12 events
5 Mar
2025
Report published
11 Dec
2024
Report published
13 Nov
2024
Oral evidence
13 Nov
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster
31 Jan
2024
Correspondence
10 Jan
2024
Correspondence
29 Nov
2023
Oral evidence
29 Nov
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
8 Nov
2023
Oral evidence
8 Nov
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Macmillan Room, Portcullis House
18 Oct
2023
Oral evidence
18 Oct
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions
13 Nov 2024
View on parliament.uk
Women and Equalities Committee
Dr Sue Mann Professor Dame Lesley Regan
29 Nov 2023
View on parliament.uk
Women's reproductive health; Women and Equalities Committee
Charlotte McArdle · NHS England Dr Judith Richardson · National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Dr Robin Buckle · Medical Research Council Maria Caulfield MP · Department of Health and Social Care Professor Dame Lesley Regan Professor Hilary Critchley FMedSci · Academy of Medical Sciences Professor Lucy Chappell FMedSci · National Institute of Health and Care Research
8 Nov 2023
View on parliament.uk
Women's reproductive health; Women and Equalities Committee
Dr Anne Connolly MBE · Menstrual Health Coalition Dr Geeta Kumar · Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) Dr Michael Mulholland · Royal College of General Practitioners Janet Lindsay · Wellbeing of Women Professor Sue Carr · General Medical Council (GMC) Rebekah Lloyd · This Independent Life
18 Oct 2023
View on parliament.uk
Women and Equalities Committee
Naga Munchetty Vicky Pattison
Title HC No. Published Items Response
1st Report - Women's reproductive health conditions HC 337 11 Dec 2024 51 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
11 results
Clear
1 Conclusion Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
High quality reproductive health education vital, welcomed in draft RSHE statutory guidance
High quality education about reproductive health is vital. Educating girls about their periods and the possibility of related conditions at a young age safeguards them against the distress of not understanding what is happening to their bodies and empowers them … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the importance of comprehensive menstrual health education and states the Department for Education is reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance, including menstrual and gynaecological health, with consultation results and its response to be published this year.
Government Equalities Office
View details
6 Conclusion Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Ongoing NHS website improvements for women's reproductive health information are welcomed
We welcome the ongoing improvements to the NHS website to include information about a wider range of women’s reproductive health conditions, information to specific communities and signposts to support and the ambition to include that information in alternative formats. Read more
Government Response
The government outlined existing plans for reforming elective care, including gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres, aiming to meet the 18-week referral-to-treatment standard by March 2029. It also highlighted ongoing Office for National Statistics studies on endometriosis and NHS England's work on developing metrics for timely access and outcomes.
Government Equalities Office
View details
8 Recommendation Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Improve NHS website with interactive tools, guidelines, accessibility, and mental health support
To supplement improvements in the provision of information on the NHS website, we recommend the inclusion of an interactive tool which can help women to determine whether they might have a reproductive health condition. We further recommend that information on … Read more
Government Response
The government emphasised that healthcare professionals are expected to provide comprehensive information, discuss treatment options, pain relief, and use shared decision-making, citing existing NHS England guidance. It also noted that women's health hubs provide specialist knowledge, but did not commit to any new actions regarding an interactive website tool, specific website content, or commissioning new hubs.
Government Equalities Office
View details
10 Conclusion Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Medical misogyny and racism lead to dismissed pain in women's reproductive healthcare.
There is a clear lack of awareness and understanding of women’s reproductive health conditions among primary healthcare practitioners, particularly when those conditions occur in young women and girls. Women are finding their symptoms normalised and their pain dismissed, with an … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed on the importance of addressing women’s pain and experiences. It committed that NHS England, with DHSC, will review the potential of conducting the Reproductive Health Survey regularly and that NHS England will review national data collection processes and protocols, including scoping a patient experience measure for women’s health services.
Government Equalities Office
View details
11 Recommendation Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Implement urgent NHS training challenging racial biases to improve reproductive healthcare in primary care.
The NHS needs to urgently implement a training programme to improve the experience of treatment and diagnosis in primary care for women, girls, trans and non-binary people with reproductive ill health. Improving early diagnosis, including through the provision of follow … Read more
Government Response
The government recognises the importance of raising awareness and committing to addressing racial biases, referring to an existing RCGP Women's Health Library with educational resources for primary care professionals. It also points to NHS England's plan to meet 18-week treatment standards by March 2029 for earlier diagnoses.
Government Equalities Office
View details
17 Conclusion Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Enforce informed consent and halt painful gynaecological procedures lacking adequate pain relief.
The NHS must do more to monitor and enforce protocols governing procedures such hysteroscopy, IUD fitting and cervical screening and ensure that they are underpinned by informed consent and are trauma-informed. A risk assessment that allows a patient to make … Read more
Government Response
The government commits to NHS England publishing a suite of adult and children's elective performance metrics, long waits, and waiting times data in an accessible format by March 2027. It will also increase the availability of elective, cancer, and outpatient data and expand diagnostic coding in elective care.
Government Equalities Office
View details
20 Conclusion Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Offer specialist mental health support to individuals with reproductive health conditions from first symptoms through treatment
Individuals with a suspected or diagnosed reproductive health condition should be offered specialist mental health support from when they start to report distressing and/or painful symptoms and throughout diagnosis and treatment. Delays at each step of the process and a … Read more
Government Response
The government highlights existing Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) providing 24/7 care and enhanced mental health pathways for victims of rape and sexual assault. It states NHS England will review and develop website content for those needing help, and will consider the committee's broader recommendations as the Women’s Health Strategy is taken forward.
Government Equalities Office
View details
37 Recommendation Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Medical schools provide insufficient training on women’s reproductive health, impacting practitioner knowledge.
Training on women’s reproductive health in medical schools needs to be improved. Healthcare practitioners are graduating without sufficient knowledge of the conditions that may affect women over their lifetime . 78 Without that education, healthcare professionals are less likely to … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the importance of training and describes existing measures, such as GMC standards, the new MLA assessment topics (including women's health), and mandatory obstetrics and gynaecology rotations, as already addressing the need for improved education.
Government Equalities Office
View details
39 Recommendation Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Train primary care practitioners to identify hidden reproductive health concerns during routine interactions.
Primary care practitioners should be trained to use women’s common interactions with the healthcare system, such as cervical screening appointments, ante- and post-natal care checks and visits to STI clinics, as an opportunity to pick up hidden health concerns relating … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, stating work is underway and committing to holding webinars for primary care practitioners, reviewing and updating existing e-learning packages, and referencing 2023 guidance on postnatal checks and the role of women’s health hubs.
Government Equalities Office
View details
47 Conclusion Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Research into women's reproductive health conditions remains insufficient due to inadequate prioritisation and incentives.
Finding the causes of women’s reproductive health conditions and new and better diagnostic tools and treatments for them cannot happen without sufficient research, which includes all groups of women and others affected, at different life stages. Yet research remains lacking … Read more
Government Response
The government fully recognises the importance of funding and building research capacity in women's reproductive health, detailing how NIHR and UKRI fund research and stating that NIHR has invested approximately £258 million over the last five years, a 55% increase. It also highlights the launch of a new £3 million Policy Research Unit.
Government Equalities Office
View details
49 Recommendation Accepted
1st Report - Women's reproductive …
Allocate increased ringfenced funding for research into women’s reproductive health and boost clinical academia interest.
The Government should allocate increased, ringfenced funding to support research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of women’s reproductive health conditions. While increased funding will in itself attract more researchers to this area, NHS England and research bodies should also … Read more
Government Response
The government recognises the importance of funding and building research capacity in women's reproductive health, detailing how NIHR and UKRI fund research through open competition and training awards. It highlights existing initiatives and examples of current funding, but does not commit to new ringfenced funding.
Government Equalities Office
View details
Government Response AI assessment · 51 of 21 classified
Accepted 11
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 6
Deferred 28
Not Addressed 2
Rejected 3
Total 21 recs + 30 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
31 Jan 2024 Correspondence from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care, relating to Women's reproductive health, dated 24 Jan 2024
Parliament page
10 Jan 2024 Correspondence from Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, NHS England, relating to Women's reproductive health, dated 13 December 2023
Parliament page