Health Services: Harpenden and Berkhamsted

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, including in Harpenden and Berkhamsted. We will ensure that women get equal access to high quality elective care, including tackling long waits for gynaecology services.

The Elective Reform Plan sets out our approach to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment across all patient groups and specialities, including women waiting for gynaecological care.

Performance against this standard across gynaecology services is up more than 6% since the start of July 2024, and gynaecology waiting lists are down by over 35,000 over the same period. As at the end of March 2026, the number of gynaecology pathways waiting within 18 weeks was 65.4%, an improvement of 5.1% since July 2024.

We are implementing measures to improve gynaecology services and improve women’s access to care. This includes innovative models of care that offer care closer to home and in the community, piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding, and increasing the relative funding available to incentivise providers to take on more gynaecology procedures.

We are also introducing an “online hospital”, NHS Online. From 2027, people on certain pathways, including severe menopause symptoms and menstrual problems that may be a sign of endometriosis or fibroids, will have the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home, providing additional appointments to cut waiting times.