Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help improve access to NHS menopause services.

The menopause is a priority area within the Women’s Health Strategy. The NHS England National Menopause Care Improvement Programme is working to improve clinical menopause care in England and reduce disparities in access to treatment. NHS England is working with integrated care systems in the Midlands, piloting new guidance to support teams in primary care better to recognise and treat menopause symptoms.

We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for essential services such as menstrual problems, contraception and the menopause.

We have also reduced the cost of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescriptions through a bespoke HRT Prescription Prepayment Certificate. More than 500,000 HRT Prescription Prepayment Certificates have now been purchased since the launch on 1 April 2023, meaning women who pay for prescriptions, pay less than £20 for all of their HRT prescriptions for a year. The average saving is estimated to be around £30 a year with total savings of approximately £13 million.