Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the diagnosis of the menopause for BAME women.

The Government acknowledges the challenges women face in seeking a diagnosis and support for menopause symptoms and that these are especially acute amongst certain groups, including those from an ethnic minority background.

We are clear that more needs to be done to address these barriers and that is why we announced earlier this year that menopause will be included in routine NHS Health Checks for over 40 year olds, raising awareness of symptoms and giving women the confidence to seek help. To improve uptake of the NHS Health Check we have developed a new NHS Health Check online service, currently being piloted in multiple local authorities, which people can use at home, at a time that is convenient for them.

As part of the Government’s renewal of the Women’s Health Strategy, we will look to identify specific barriers in access to healthcare and set out concrete action to remove them.

Through our National Institute for Health and Care Research, we have invested over £4 million into research on menopause in 2024/25. This includes research to understand Black women's experiences of digitally provided sexual and reproductive healthcare including on the menopause.