FSRH statement: NHSE National Clinical Director for Women’s Health and Government Reproductive Health Survey announcements

NHS England (NHSE) has announced it is recruiting for a new National Clinical Director (NCD) for Women’s Health, supporting the delivery of the NHSE’s commitments in the Women’s Health Strategy. The Government has also announced a new survey seeking women’s views on their experiences of reproductive health. FSRH welcomes these announcements which support Goals and Actions within the FSRH Hatfield Vision aiming to significantly reduce SRH inequalities for women and girls by 2030.

The NCD for Women’s Health will provide overarching specialist clinical leadership and guidance for NHSE on areas relating to the transformation and commissioning of services, as well as advice to support development of policy and parliamentary accountability.

Additionally, they will ensure NHSE’s work is in line with the Women’s Health Strategy published by the Government in July 2022.

The appointment of an NCD for Women’s Health arrives following consistent calls from FSRH and other organisations in the reproductive healthcare sector for clinical leadership at NHSE, and links directly with actions on accountability in the FSRH Hatfield Vision. This is welcome and significant progress against Action 5 of the Vision – which calls for an NCD for women’s reproductive health to be appointed, holding accountability for the commissioning and outcomes of women’s reproductive health.

Further progress has been made with the Government announcing a new survey seeking women’s views on their experiences of reproductive health, which was a key commitment in the Women’s Health Strategy.

The survey is being delivered by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and is funded by the Government. It is open to all women in England aged 16-55 and will run for six weeks, starting from Thursday 7 September 2023. The survey will gather vital data on women’s menstrual health, contraception, fertility, pregnancy planning and menopause.

The responses of this survey will help shape future policy on women’s health, enhance care and improve wellbeing. This initiative by the Government is a positive step towards achieving Goal 16 of the FSRH Hatfield Vision, which calls for information to be easily available to support women and girls in making decisions about their own reproductive health, regardless of their background.

Dr Janet Barter, President of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH), said:

“We are delighted to see the Government and NHS England making progress against specific Goals and Actions of the FSRH Hatfield Vision, helping us – and the 50+ organisations who have come on board to support this work – to deliver against our ambition of significantly improving reproductive health inequalities by 2030.

The FSRH Hatfield Vision Taskforce will continue to harness sector-wide expertise to bring the Goals of the Vision into reality.”

For more information on the FSRH Hatfield Vision please see here.

For more information on the NCD vacancy please see here: NHS England » Working for us

To access the Government’s Reproductive Health Survey please see here: National online survey

About FSRH

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) is the leader in the field of sexual and reproductive healthcare, and we are the voice for professionals working in this area. As a multi-disciplinary professional membership organisation, we set clinical guidance and standards, provide training and lifelong education, and champion safe and effective sexual and reproductive healthcare across the life course for all.