During March, to coincide with International Women’s Day on 8 March Gateshead Health will be highlighting the services we provide for women and girls. Women’s health is high on many national and local agendas following the launch of the Women’s Health Strategy for England in August 2022 and Gateshead’s Director of Public Health Report ‘Mind the Gap – Women and Health Inequalities’.
Over the last 12 months, we have achieved a ‘good’ CQC rating for our maternity services, ranked fifth in the country for maternity care as well as securing £250,000 investment to develop a women’s health hub at Gateshead Place which supports our ambition and strategic intent to become the Northern Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health.
This month we are focusing on all of our services for women and girls from IVF, sexual health, breast care awareness to menopause support. Following women’s health across their life course from conception to later years, we will be displaying the journey of a woman and how Gateshead Health can play a huge part in offering care and support to women and girls in the community and beyond.
In addition to our local services, we provide regional gynaecology and breast services, lead large screening programmes supported by our regional pathology centre, and deliver maternity services, within acute and community settings. Our strategy for women’s health focuses and builds on the excellent work of our clinical teams. Our overarching ambition for our women’s health hub is to improve access, experiences of care and outcomes for women and girls across Gateshead, by better integrating the services and support throughout the life course, with a strong emphasis on reducing inequalities.
The services that we will focus on in our hub are menopause, contraception and gynaecology, which are based on local needs. Jane Conroy, Programme Manager for Women’s Health commented on the project:
“We have a unique opportunity to improve the way that care pathways work for women and girls living in Gateshead. The idea is that women will be able to have more of their health needs met at one time, with less need for appointments in different places. ”
Jane Conroy, Programme Manager for Women’s Health
The women’s health hub will bring stakeholders together to improve access and outcomes, with a multidisciplinary approach and a focus on digital support. Nicola Bruce, Director of Strategy, Planning and Partnerships said:
Improving women’s health is a collective ambition across Gateshead. I am delighted to be leading this work on behalf of the Trust. The investment we have received at Gateshead Place to develop a women’s health hub is an important part in Gateshead becoming the Northern Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health.
Nicola Bruce, Director of Strategy, Planning and Partnerships