Parliamentary Roundtable

Menstrual Health Inequalities

On Wednesday 7th December the Menstrual Health Coalition hosted a parliamentary roundtable in Portcullis House, focusing on the inequalities within menstrual health in the backdrop of the Women’s Health Strategy.

While the MHC was delighted to see the publication of the Women’s Health Strategy and the focus on menstrual health within the priority areas, we believe the Strategy does not do enough to address the socio-economic factors which impact the way in which women access health services across the country.

The roundtable looked to focus on the disparities in menstrual health across the country, and to represent the voices of many women who feel dismissed and struggle to get the right diagnosis, treatment, care and support. Discussion focused on improving education, including school-age education, using easy-to-understand language, and including videos in different languages on the NHS website. Recruitment, retention and training of healthcare professionals was also discussed alongside improving data collection, research funding and ensuring prevention and early intervention.

The MHC was delighted to have Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, host the roundtable alongside the following attendees:

  • Dr Anne Connolly MBE, Founder of the Primary Care Women's Health Forum and Chair of the MHC's Steering Committee

  • Emma Cox, CEO of Endometriosis UK and Member of the MHC's Steering Committee

  • Janet Lindsay, Chief Executive of Wellbeing of Women and Member of the MHC's Steering Committee

  • Katharine Gale, Chair of the Women's Health Forum at the RCN, Member of the MHC's Steering Committee

  • Neelam Heera-Shergill, Founder of Cysters

  • Dr Nighat Arif, Ambassador for Wellbeing of Women

  • Mr Funlayo Odejinmi, Representative from the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy

  • Sara Bordoley, Senior Policy Lead Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Team at NHS England

  • Tanya Simon Hall, Patient Representative and founder of The Adeno Gang

  • Aziza Francis, Patient Representative and media manager of The Adeno Gang

  • Danielle Perro, Representative from the Black Women's Reproductive Health Project

  • Becca Fowles, Patient Representative from Endometriosis UK

  • Gozde Zorlu, Head of Communications and Campaigns at Wellbeing of Women

  • Mr Haitham Hamoda, Consultant Gynaecologist and Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at King's College Hospital

  • Donna Dadge, Bayer

  • Rachel Williams, Hologic

  • Matthew Neal, Gedeon Richter

Along with the points raised in the meeting, the MHC have engaged with both attendees and wider supporters to produce a series of recommendations and asks which will be shared with the relevant Minister, Maria Caulfield MP, with a request to meet. Please see the asks here.

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