The government has appointed a dedicated women’s health ambassador to help reduce health inequality in England after a consultation in 2021 found a shocking gender gap in healthcare services.

Dame Lesley Regan, who is also a practicing doctor, wants to make it easier for women and girls to access care such as contraception and smear tests in the community. She will also support the government-led women’s-health strategy, which, amongst other priorities, aims to improve access to hormone-replacement therapy amidst ongoing shortages across the UK.

Over 100,000 responses to the government’s inquiry that was released at the end of last year revealed that many women felt they were not listened to by health professionals, and were not supported well when dealing with health conditions.

Nearly two in three respondents with a health condition or disability said they did not feel supported, and felt that services for conditions which only affect women are of lower priority than general health.

Not only is less said to be known about many specific conditions and how to treat them, many patients shared that they felt overlooked when talking to doctors about conditions like endometriosis or complications following a pelvic mesh repair.

The analysis also found that taboos and stigma in women’s health can prevent women seeking help and reinforce beliefs that debilitating symptoms are “normal”.

Dame Lesley told the BBC: “At the moment, we waste a lot of resource in telling girls and women that they cannot have things.”

“So you might go off to your doctor or gynaecologist or heart specialist and get told, well, you cannot have a smear here, even if it is due, or you need to go somewhere else for this, that and the other.”

“We should make it very, very easy for people to access this out in the community – why do you need to go to a secondary or tertiary facility for things that are very easy to provide?”

The newly appointed ambassador wants to create ‘health hubs’ that women could visit for half a day and be seen to for a number of different issues and check-ups. 

“A one-stop shop is what I want for myself and what I want for my daughters and I’m sure it is what every other girl and woman wants and what every man and boy wants for the women in their lives, to be looked after that way,” Dame Lesley said.

As well as her new role as women’s health ambassador, Dame Lesley is also currently professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Imperial College London and was previously president of the UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Image: Getty