More than a dozen national priorities have been axed from NHS England plans – including fears this includes a full national rollout of Women’s Health Hubs.

Women’s health hubs are intended to provide a wide range of services under one roof, including pelvic health physiotherapy, mammograms, cervical smears, contraception, menopause support, and diagnosis and treatment for common gynaecological issues.

Dropping plans for a rollout would have ‘serious consequences’, warn healthcare professionals who helped advise on the design and implementation of these hubs, with a specific focus on enhancing access to pelvic health physiotherapy. 

Sling The Mesh has relentlessly lobbied for quality pelvic floor physiotherapy which is easy for women to access at all astages of their life.

Sling The Mesh founder Kath Sansom said: Thousands of women would have been spared the agony of mesh surgeries had we received quality physiotherapy for bladder leaks or prolapse either after giving birth or however many years down the line when we went to our GPs to ask for help. This feels like a huge step backwards in the wrong direction. It is time women’s voices were properly heard.”

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists said: We and other organisations will be pressing NHS England to continue to report on all these areas, along with the need to invest in the physiotherapy workforce.”

The Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy group POGP said: “This decision is a further example of inconsistent and short-term funding for projects deemed as priorities in women’s health. Although the goal for maternity safety is planned to be protected, there is already concern about preservation of the funding for the perinatal pelvic health services initiative.”

As part of the broader women’s health strategy, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England had previously announced funding allocations of £25 million to expand women’s health hubs, with an additional £11 million earmarked from April 2024 to fund national pelvic services aimed at preventing and treating pelvic floor dysfunction, as well as supporting postnatal recovery. 

The previous guidance committed to establishing at least one women’s health hub in every integrated care board by December 2024 but this target remains unmet, with approximately 10 per cent of areas falling behind schedule. 

Motion on Women’s health Hubs 20 January 2025

That this House notes with deep concern the Government’s decision to reduce women’s health targets in NHS guidance, including the removal of the commitment to roll out women’s health hubs across all integrated care boards; recognises that these hubs provide vital services, including faster diagnosis for conditions such as endometriosis and osteoporosis, which disproportionately impact women’s quality of life; further notes that the Government’s own cost-benefit analysis found that every £1 spent on these hubs generates £5 in benefits; notes that waiting times for gynaecological services remain unacceptably high, with conditions like endometriosis taking an average of 8 years and 10 months to diagnose; warns that deprioritising women’s health risks worsening health inequalities; and urges the Government to reinstate the target for a nationwide rollout of women’s health hubs to ensure women receive the care they deserve.