The UK government has announced plans to renew the Women’s Health Strategy, a key policy initiative aimed at improving access to healthcare and addressing inequalities faced by women across England.
Unveiled on 23 October 2025, the renewed strategy will form part of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, with a focus on removing longstanding barriers that prevent women from receiving the care they need. The updated approach will build on recent measures, including the inclusion of menopause-related questions in the NHS Health Check, which is expected to benefit millions of women nationwide.
According to the Department of Health and Social Care, the renewed strategy will outline the next phase of reforms to ensure healthcare systems better reflect women’s experiences. It will be developed using feedback gathered from the government’s 10 Year Health Plan consultation, described as the largest public engagement exercise ever held on the NHS’s future.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“We inherited a broken NHS, and as a result too many women are still subject to a system that doesn’t listen to their experiences or understand their needs.”
“Whether it’s being passed from one specialist to another for conditions like endometriosis or PCOS, the lack of proper pain relief during procedures, or unacceptable gynaecology waiting lists – it’s clear the system is failing women, and it shouldn’t be happening.”
“Our renewed strategy will set out our longer-term vision so every woman gets the healthcare she deserves, when she needs it. We’re determined to build an NHS in which women can feel safe and can trust.”
The government has already begun implementing early reforms to improve women’s healthcare outcomes. Gynaecology waiting lists have started to decline for the first time in several years, supported by additional funding aimed at addressing the backlog of cases.
One of the newly introduced measures, known as Jess’s Rule, requires GPs in England to “think again” if they have seen a patient three times without diagnosing a condition or if symptoms continue to worsen.
Other steps include the introduction of a Cervical Cancer Plan for England, which sets out a goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, and plans to make emergency hormonal contraception freely available on the NHS at local pharmacies.
Officials say these reforms align with the government’s Plan for Change, designed to build an NHS that is “fit for the future” by delivering more personalised and preventative healthcare services for women across the country.
