Women’s health
Note: although we use the term women we recognise that trans, non-binary, intersex and gender-expansive people require women’s health services and we are working to ensure services are accessible and inclusive for all.
Note: although we use the term women we recognise that trans, non-binary, intersex and gender-expansive people require women’s health services and we are working to ensure services are accessible and inclusive for all.
The Women’s Health Strategy for England was published in 2022. The strategy set out a ten-year plan for improving women’s and girls’ health and wellbeing, including developing Women’s Health Hubs across England.
The funding we have received for Women’s Health Hubs will build on what is already provided by general practices to improve access to services, quality of care and to reduce health inequalities. The national guidance on Women’s Health Hubs outlines eight core service areas:
We gathered local and national data on women’s health needs, current outcomes and existing service provision. This included reading the local Healthwatch report ‘Your NHS Menopause experience’ and the Bristol City Council Women’s Health needs assessment, which includes some data from South Gloucestershire and North Somerset as well.
We talked with our stakeholders to develop and agree on priority areas and outcomes we want to achieve for women in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. Our Women’s Health Working Group has been busy developing plans to improve our services that will achieve these outcomes.
Since September 2024, we have started making improvements to women’s health services in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. We will monitor and evaluate these changes and, if needed, adapt our plans to meet our key outcomes.
Photo taken at the Women’s Health Workshop that was held in December 2023.
Our plans for ‘Women’s Health Hubs’ are being developed and delivered with a focus on reducing health inequalities and following a trauma-informed approach, which acknowledges the prevalence of trauma in society, recognises the signs and symptoms of trauma and resists re-traumatising people.
We are advertising one-off grants from £5,000 to £20,000 for women’s health work with Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller people in Bristol, North Somerset or South Gloucestershire. Deadline for applications is 12 December 2024 at 9am.
Find out about our inclusion health plans
Grant guidelines for women’s health work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people (PDF) Grant application form for women’s health work with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people (Word Doc)If you would like the ICB to share your details to enable new connections across our integrated care system to support your application contact us at bnssg.womenshealth@nhs.net
Senior staff from Integrated Care System (ICS) organisations meet quarterly to steer a system-wide, joined-up approach to improving women’s health and reducing inequalities. The organisations represented include:
The Women’s Health Working Group is focused on the ‘Women’s Health Hub’ project. It meets monthly to plan improvements and support implementation. Membership includes:
This is a photo of members of the Women’s Health Working Group
It is key that the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Women’s Health programme is driven by input from local women.
We have two public contributors on our Working Group, and support them to contribute to the Group’s plan to improve services in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Our work to improve outcomes for women from inclusion health groups will be informed by engagement and co-design of services with people from these groups.
Primary Care Networks (PCNs) will engage with their local communities to help ensure that the changes they make to women’s health services in their area meet the needs of local people.
For more information, contact the team via the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Women’s Health email bnssg.womenshealth@nhs.net