What we set out to achieve:

In July 2023, the Women’s Health Strategy for England set out the 10-year  ambitions for boosting the health and wellbeing of women and girls, and  for improving how the health and care system listens to women by using a  life course approach.

The strategy encourages the expansion of women’s health hubs across  the country to improve access to services and health outcomes. It is the intention for the hubs to bring together healthcare professionals and existing services to provide integrated women’s health services in the community, centred on women’s needs across the lifetime.

The national strategy sets out the priority areas related to specific  conditions or areas of health where issues or opportunities were  highlighted.

These are:

• Menstrual health and gynaecological conditions
• Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and postnatal support
• Menopause
• Mental health and wellbeing
• Cancers
• Health impacts of violence against women and girls
• Healthy ageing and long-term conditions
• Implementation and monitoring progress

The ICB’s involvement team are supported the Women’s Health  Hubs’ project team to have access to a range of information and  feedback from Women in Lincolnshire.

To gather women’s experiences of health services in Lincolnshire and understand how they would like to access care and treatment in the future, to help inform the Women’s Health Strategy for Lincolnshire.

What we did:

Survey and community conversations

• Ran an online survey, receiving 1,110 responses.
• Spoke with 120 women by visiting 11 community groups across Lincolnshire.
• Held online meetings involving 31 participants.
• Promoted the engagement widely through NHS and partner networks, social media, the ICB website, Nextdoor and community organisations.
• Specifically sought to involve communities that are often underrepresented

Co-production

• In March 2024, we recruited 10 members to join the co-production group.
• The aim of the group was to discuss the requirements of Women’s Health Hub.
• First meeting consisted of 2 clinicians, programme director, project manager, 4 members of the public and 2 engagement leads

Women’s Health Conference

• In November 2024, Lincolnshire held its first Women’s Health Conference with the findings from the engagement activities were presented at the conference.
• The attendees were from across the county including clinical leads, service providers, voluntary / community sector.
• Attendees heard two patient stories during the conference – a member of the co-production group and a young woman.

Working with young people

• As part of the community visits, we visited a girl’s school in Grantham.  Students produced a video about what they wanted to see for Women’s Health in Lincolnshire. 
• The video was presented at the Steering group and sparked a good debate about the future of Women’s health and the importance of the younger voice.

What you told us:

Women want care that is accessible, joined-up, responsive and built around their needs. Key messages included:

• Women want to feel listened to and taken seriously, with some describing feeling dismissed because of their symptoms or age.
• Quick access to appointments and healthcare professionals with specialist knowledge of women’s health were important.
• Women valued local services, but also supported a specialist women’s health centre, complemented by local, mobile or pop-up provision.
• A “one-stop shop” approach, bringing multiple services together, was popular.
• Women wanted more flexible access, including evening and weekend appointments, walk-in options and opportunities for self-referral.
• They wanted trusted, practical NHS information, including information that helps answer questions such as “is this normal?” and when to seek help.
• Better women’s health education and support was also wanted in schools and workplaces.

The difference it’s made:

• • The engagement provided a substantial body of evidence about women’s experiences, priorities and preferences for future women’s health services in Lincolnshire. The findings were considered by the Women’s Health Steering Group and presented at the Women’s Health Conference, helping to inform the development of Lincolnshire’s Women’s Health Strategy
• Hearing from the patients’ stories has changed the way clinicians practice in the future
• Working with the girls’ school in Grantham has informed the way with connect with young people
• Public feedback is at the heart of this programme of work
• Insights from both the surveys and face-to-face conversations continues to influence the steering group.
• Design of the digital hub has been procured based on feedback
• 3 pilot Women’s Health Hubs have been launched in local communities taking into consideration that Lincolnshire is a large county and travel can be difficult

What’s next?

The findings from the survey and community conversations have been considered by the Women’s Health Steering Group and were to be presented at the Women’s Health Conference to inform the Women’s Health Strategy for Lincolnshire.