Gynaecology: Disadvantaged

The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain, to ensure people can live well for longer. Our reimagined National Health Service will tackle inequalities in both access and outcomes, as well as give everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, the means to engage with the NHS on their own terms.

In April, the Government published the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England as part of its commitment to prioritise women’s health as we reform the NHS, and to ensure that all women across the country are supported to live healthy, prosperous lives.

Reducing inequalities is hard‑wired throughout this strategy with actions targeted by deprivation, ethnicity, and unmet need, with a focus on marginalised women, community‑based services, neighbourhood health models, and transparent data. Many initiatives explicitly prioritise areas with the highest inequality first, rather than relying on universal rollout alone.

Commitments include publishing an equity good practice guide to enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to better understand and reduce inequalities in heavy periods and menopause. These conditions have been selected as disproportionately affecting women from ethnic minority backgrounds and those women living in the 20% most deprived areas in England.

We have also committed to establishing a women’s voices partnership, a new space for organisations representing women to inform national decision making. The partnership will focus on women most excluded from traditional services.

We will also fund a specialist centre in each region for group-based approaches to high volume low complexity women’s health pathways. This will improve productivity and empower women in common clinical areas, helping reduce waiting lists and supporting self-management.

Menstrual problems, including those caused by endometriosis and menopause are prioritised as the first pathways to be delivered through community-based services and the new virtual hospital, NHS Online. NHS Online will give people on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. It will connect patients with clinicians across the country through secure, online appointments accessed through the NHS App.

In November 2025, NHS England’s Statement on Information on Health Inequalities set a clear expectation that ICBs, trusts, and foundation trusts routinely capture and use disability data. This data should be used to identify patterns of unmet need and inequitable access, inform commissioning and service design decision, implement and monitor reasonable adjustments, and improve patient experience, safety, and outcomes for disabled people. NHS England’s Statement on Information on Health Inequalities is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-englands-statement-on-information-on-health-inequalities/#3-what-are-the-views-of-nhs-england-about-how-these-powers-should-be-exercised