The Thames Valley Chamber’s Thames Valley Health and Life Sciences Working Group (HLSWG) have hosted a webinar which showcased the government’s recently published Women’s Health Strategy. Hosted by working group Chair, Sue Staunton, Partner and Head of Life Sciences at James Cowper Kreston, Sue welcomed three industry experts to discuss the Strategy and how the HLSWG can showcase the good practice taking place in the region and support the implementation of the strategy.
With industry experts Emily Mitchell, Head of Therapeutic Areas Public Affairs UK at Bayer, Katherine Edwards, Director of Patient Safety and Clinical Improvement at Health Innovation (HIN) Oxford and Thames Valley and Jonathan Evans, Director of Communications at ABHI, the webinar highlighted the important role of the Chamber in convening the key stakeholders and is ideally placed in helping take forward the Strategy’s implementation, showcasing how the region is best-placed and able to show best-practice/innovation to help the Strategy move on.
In her introduction, Sue welcomed ‘the evidential passion by Ministers and ambition’ emphasising that she hasn’t really seen in support of women’s health before and is encouraged by the focus on deliverable policies that can translate the vision into implemented action and measuring the success in closing the gap of disparity we currently see.
Set within the context of the NHS Ten-Year Plan, delegates heard that the new Women’s Health Strategy demonstrates a renewed government commitment. That tangible change is already happening in the real world, including for example, Women’s Health Hubs which are starting to offer a more joined-up, community-based approach to assessment and treatment, particularly for gynaecological conditions, bringing care closer to home and taking pressure off hospital services. But they are not yet everywhere. Katherine outlined the HIN’s ambition to work with partners to understand what good looks like, where provision is uneven and how innovation can support earlier intervention and better experience. Alongside this, plans to develop a women’s health innovation cluster programme were outlined, with Health Innovation Network colleagues across England, to bring together clinicians, innovators, and system leaders to focus on priority areas for the region.
It is evident that improving women’s health is not about creating a parallel system. It is about designing a health system that works properly for everyone, our experts agreed. Katherine Edwards stated that, “By embedding sex and gender-informed thinking into research, innovation, and service design, we can close longstanding gaps in care and unlock benefits for patients, the workforce, and the wider economy (including productivity)”. The economic impact of women’s health conditions is substantial, costing the UK economy an estimated £11 billion annually. The key facts were summarised:
- Women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health compared with men.
- Only 5% of global research funding is directed towards women’s health.
- Closing the women’s health gap could deliver £32 billion to the UK economy each year.
- There are currently 600,000 women on gynaecology waiting lists, the fastest-growing backlog in the NHS.
- Every £1 invested in women’s health returns an estimated £11 to the economy.
Reflecting on Bayer’s long-standing commitment to women’s health, Emily Mitchell commented: “The Women’s Health Strategy is a meaningful step forward and reflects positive momentum. We welcome the focus on women’s voices and choices supported by trusted information and timely access to care across the life course, as well recognition of disparities in cardiovascular disease. The Strategy highlights an opportunity to scale good practice so women have equitable access to care wherever they live, and the TVCC’s Thames Valley HLSWG is well placed to bring partners together to support this ambition”.
Jonathan stated, “Women’s health is an agenda that matters to all of us, and one where collaboration, evidence and practical action must go hand in hand. The tone and ambition of the Strategy is welcome, and the links to the key three shifts of the NHS Ten-Year Plan. Above all, it’s encouraging to see that the Strategy recognises what needs to change – for example, only 5% of global R&D funding is allocated to women’s health research – and is (finally) listening to women”.
Addressing some of the challenges, the panel commented that it’s a start, but there is progress to be made. The focus on discussing the how is good but further work needs to be done on delivery moving to implementation. With 117 priorities (albeit many linked to other plans) where is the true focus the panel asked, especially given the limited resources and wider challenges facing/change in the NHS. An outstanding gap is the limited attention on addressing the underlying skills/workforce issues – which is especially challenging in the NHS itself where over 70% of the workforce are female.
Commenting on the publication of the Women’s Health Strategy, Yuan Yang, MP for Earley and Woodley said: “Too often, women are ignored or dismissed at the clinic, even when they have serious symptoms or valid healthcare concerns. This strategy will stop women falling through the cracks in our healthcare system by putting them at the centre of delivering effective care”.
Gareth Ralphs, Head of Business Representation and Policy at TVCC, adds: “Our working group is deliberately action-led and business-driven. Women’s health is one of several priorities where the Thames Valley has the capability to lead, showcase good practice and drive collaborative, commercially driven, solutions that can support the delivery of the ambition government has set-out in its NHS 10-Year Plan. The emphasis, in the Strategy, on partnership and strong regional leadership is very welcome to drive implementation and outcomes.
Strong systems leadership is a focus of the Chamber and the work of our HLSWG, which brings academic, business, the NHS and other key stakeholders together to drive these important outcomes. We have a proven track record and a growing reputation, lobbying government to champion improved patient care and outcomes, and driving policy reform.”
To find out more about health and life sciences in the Thames Valley and the work of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce visit here.
