A new national champion will be appointed to oversee wide-ranging recommendations that aim to reduce health inequalities faced by women, the Scottish government has pledged.

The first Women’s Health Plan sets out 66 aims in areas such as abortion, clinical research, menopause and menstrual health.

Implementing the changes will be ‘challenging’ and require ‘long-term cultural change’, the document states.

It is hoped appointing a national women’s health champion will ensure the conversation is happening at the highest level of the NHS and Scottish government.

Improvements include a promise to make telephone or video consultation an option for all abortion consultations within a year, reducing endometriosis diagnosis waits from the current eight-year timeframe down to a year, and a specialist menopause service in every NHS board in the next three years.

A further plan which has not yet been published is expected to set out more detail on the recommendations, including responsibility for implementation.

Women’s Health Minister Maree Todd described the plan as “ambitious”.

She said: “It is clear that wider change must happen to ensure all our health and social care services meet the needs of all women, everywhere.

“Women’s health is not just a women's issue. When women and girls are supported to lead healthy lives and fulfil their potential, the whole of society benefits.”

Further commitments in the plan include:

• Every NHS board having a women’s health lead, alongside the national women’s health champion.
• NHS Inform to host a ‘central platform’ of women’s health information.
• A women’s health community pharmacy service, though this is at least three years away.
• A new fund to ‘close gaps’ in research where women are under-represented.
• Better information and awareness of different heart disease symptoms and risks for women.

The plan has been welcomed by charities and campaign groups that helped its development.

Vice President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Dr Pat O’Brien said: “We welcome Scotland’s commitment to this ambitious and detailed plan as a key marker to making improvements to healthcare services for all women from different backgrounds.

“We are pleased to see the Women’s Health Plan adopts an approach to prioritise the health and wellbeing of women throughout every stage of their lives, and ensure they can access care when they need it – something we called for in our Better for Women report.”

James Jopling, of the British Heart Foundation Scotland, said: “Coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in women in Scotland and kills nearly three times as many as women as breast cancer.

“At every stage – from the moment they experience symptoms through to their cardiac rehabilitation – women with heart disease can face disadvantages. We need to improve understanding of the risks for women and increase their awareness of the symptoms of a heart attack.”

Irene Oldfather, of the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, chaired a lived experience group contributing to the report.

She said: “From our previous engagement work at the ALLIANCE, we heard that women want to see a system which provides them flexibility around their lives, both when accessing appointments and for treatment and support options. They want to be taken seriously no matter their concern, without feeling judged for their skin colour, culture or choices.”

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