RCOG responds to reports that central support for women’s health hubs will end

In response to reports that the UK Government is considering removing central support for women’s health hubs, the RCOG writes to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. 

Dear Secretary of State,

We are writing to you to express our deep concern amid reports that the UK Government is considering removing the requirement for ICBs to fund and establish women’s health hubs, effectively ending central support for the hub model.  

The RCOG has been vocal in is support of the Government’s manifesto commitment to ‘prioritise women’s health’, including the ambitious goal to recover elective care. Both women with lived experience and our professionals working on the frontline have told us time and time again about the worsening and catastrophic impact gynaecology waiting times are having on patients, so we support the focus on this essential aspect of women’s health.

The College also supports the ambition to move more care from hospitals to communities, but urges the Government to recognise that women’s health hubs are an integral enabler to this. The hub model is proven to increase the services women can access in the community and the prevention of poor health outcomes, with priorities based on local need. Hubs also play an important role in delivering improved efficiency across the system, reducing the number of appointments women need to attend, and increasing the quality of, and reducing variation in, secondary care referrals. Furthermore, they can result in fewer women needing to access emergency services for worsening symptoms, enabling them to get the vital care they need earlier and closer to home.

Women’s health hubs have demonstrated their value and the transformational impact they can have for women and the wider health system. For example, the Modality GP service in Birmingham has reduced unnecessary referrals with less than 10% onward referral rate to secondary care, has provided training opportunities for professionals, and crucially has enabled women to access support quickly, delivering up to 1,000 appointments each month.[1] Similar success has also been seen in the Tower Hamlets women’s health hub, with 95% of patients seen within 48 hours with 100% positive feedback from patients and GPs.[2] This is the type of model that the Government should surely be looking to scale up and replicate for other areas of healthcare rather than to withdraw support for.

We understand that there is a difficult fiscal context and that the Government will have to make some difficult trade-offs in the upcoming Spending Review. However, the apparent decision to abandon investments which have delivered benefits to women and the NHS is self-defeating. The Government’s own cost benefit analysis of hubs[3] found the model to be good value for money. The NHS Confederation also found that every additional £1 of public investment in obstetrics and gynaecology services per woman in England is estimated to deliver a return on investment of £11.

It is clear that women’s health hubs are an essential element in both delivering more care in the community and reducing pressure on elective services, identified as key strategic objectives for the Government. Investing in hubs is therefore not just investing in women, it is investing in the NHS and the wider UK economy. If the Government fails to recommit to women’s health hubs, we fear this will result in a deterioration in women’s health and services, an exacerbation of health inequalities and a missed opportunity to support economic growth. The College therefore strongly recommends that the Government retains the requirement for ICBs to fund women’s health hubs, which will help reduce waiting lists, improve women’s access to healthcare services in the community, and provide a return on investment for the Government.

We would be pleased to meet with you to discuss how we can support you to achieve your manifesto commitment to prioritise women’s health.

Yours sincerely,

Ranee Thakar, President, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Kate Lancaster, CEO, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists