Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to (a) measure and (b) assess the adequacy of the progress of integrated care systems in (i) establishing women’s health hubs and (ii) ensuring that hubs offer the full list of core services set out in the guidance entitled Women's health hubs: core specification, published on 22 July 2023.

Every integrated care board (ICB) in England has been allocated £595,000 in total over 2023/24 and 2024/25. ICBs have been asked to use this funding to establish or expand at least one women’s health hub in their system in line with the core specification.

ICBs are accountable to NHS England (NHSE) for NHS spend and performance, including the funding for women’s health hubs. All ICBs have now submitted an initial return to NHSE setting out where their hub(s) will be, what services they plan to offer, their staffing model, and other information.

ICBs are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local population and will determine the exact services that their women’s health hub will provide. NHSE will request further updates over the duration of the funding to enable DHSC and NHSE to monitor ICBs’ progress.