Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of Advice and Guidance pathways on access to specialist care for women experiencing menopause-related health conditions.

No specific formal assessment has been made. Advice and Guidance is designed to support quicker, clearer clinical decision making, by enabling general practitioners (GPs) and specialists to discuss and agree the most appropriate next steps for a patient, including those with menopause related conditions.

Where the outcome of advice is for care management in the community, we expect patients to be seen more quickly, closer to home, benefiting from earlier specialist input. In these cases, the GP may still subsequently refer their patient at any point if they have concerns.