It’s time to stop discussing women’s health

By Jenny Partridge, Head of Portfolio – Innovation and Enterprise (Primary and Community Care), Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex

I’ve lost count of the number of meetings, conferences and roundtables I’ve attended on women’s health. But increasingly I find myself wondering when we will spend as much energy putting proven solutions into practice as we do discussing the problem.

My headline is deliberately provocative. Of course we should continue to talk about women’s health. But we also need to recognise that, in many areas, the challenge is no longer identifying the problem. It is making sure women can access solutions that already exist and have a growing evidence base behind them.

At Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS), we’ve seen this first hand through our work with primary care teams, community services and innovators developing products and services for women.

The solutions exist but the challenge is access

Despite the growth of women’s health initiatives and women’s health hubs, many women still struggle to access support that could improve their health and quality of life.

The encouraging news is that many women’s health conditions can be addressed through relatively simple, low-cost interventions that focus on prevention, early support and self-management.

One example is a recent pilot with a forward-thinking primary care network that offered women access to structured pelvic health support through the MUTU programme. This low cost programme allows participants to access support for pelvic floor dysfunction, continence issues, prolapse, diastasis recti and related wellbeing concerns before symptoms became more severe. A previous study showed the technology showed a cost benefit ratio of 1.5 in the long term, based on only two symptom areas.

My hope is that this does not become another promising women’s health intervention that demonstrates impact, generates enthusiasm and then struggles to secure long-term funding.

Why is adopting women’s health solutions still so difficult?

If we want women’s health solutions to become part of everyday care, we need to challenge some of the assumptions and processes that continue to slow adoption.

We still don’t collect the right data

A lack of data is often cited as a reason for slow adoption. The reality is more complicated.

In many cases, the data simply is not collected consistently. Sex-disaggregated data remains patchy, and many conditions affecting women are not routinely recorded in ways that help systems understand the true scale of need.

Pelvic health is a good example. Many women live with symptoms for years without seeking support: some feel embarrassed: some assume it is an inevitable consequence of childbirth or ageing, others simply do not know help is available.

The answer is not necessarily more research. It is better routine data collection. Offers of support, uptake and outcomes should be coded into patient records and supplemented by platform analytics, rather than relying heavily on surveys. Without consistent coding, women’s health needs can remain largely invisible to commissioners, making investment harder to justify.

We don’t always measure what matters

When a new treatment reduces pressure on primary care or hospital services, the benefits can often be easily quantified.

Preventative women’s health interventions are different. Their impact may be seen in greater confidence, improved quality of life, fewer women leaving work, reduced social isolation and fewer issues progressing to the point where more intensive treatment is required.

These benefits do not always fit neatly into traditional business cases. As a result, many solutions become trapped in a cycle of pilots and evaluations. They are repeatedly asked to prove their value while the underlying need remains unmet.

Moving to prevention from cure is one of the three shifts central to NHS 10 Year Plan for England. Yet when preventative solutions become available, securing funding can be difficult because the benefits are felt across multiple parts of the system rather than within a single budget.

Success measures should therefore go beyond short-term financial returns. Uptake, confidence in managing symptoms, improvements in quality of life, reduced isolation and the ability to carry out everyday activities without fear or discomfort all provide a fuller picture of value.

Short-term funding creates long-term problems

Another significant barrier is the reliance on temporary funding streams. Many excellent women’s health projects begin through innovation funds, pilot programmes or short-term initiatives. The challenge comes when that funding ends.

Teams invest time in developing pathways, engaging clinicians and supporting patients, only to find themselves searching for a new funding source just as benefits are beginning to emerge. The result is uncertainty for patients, frustration for staff and a stop-start approach that makes lasting change harder to achieve.

Where interventions have demonstrated value, they should be incorporated into routine pathways. Digital and home-based support can sit alongside community physiotherapy services and women’s health hubs as part of a clinically owned offer. That requires clear referral routes, onboarding processes, monitoring arrangements and escalation pathways, but it also requires a commitment to move beyond treating proven interventions as temporary projects.

The human cost of standing still

Perhaps the biggest consequence of these barriers is the growing gap between women who can access support and those who cannot. Many effective solutions already exist. Women who can afford private care can often access them relatively quickly. Those who cannot may face long waits, fragmented services or simply continue living with symptoms because they are unsure where to turn.

Women’s health should not become another area where access depends on ability to pay. Yet that is the risk if proven interventions remain locked in cycles of pilots, evaluations and short-term funding.

For me, this is the strongest case for change.

The next step is adoption.

If we are serious about prevention, we need to start treating proven women’s health interventions as part of routine care. The opportunity is in front of us. It’s time to act on it.

Read our report: Improving pelvic health pathways in primary and community care and associated recommendations.