Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the gender pain gap for women.

Through the call for evidence for the Women’s Health Strategy, women told us that they had not always been listened to by healthcare professionals and that more needs to be done to improve research, evidence, and data on women’s health. It is unacceptable that women’s pain is dismissed, as this can lead to unnecessary suffering or a delayed diagnosis.

The Women’s Health Strategy for England sets out ambitions to boost the participation of women in all types of research, and for more research into women’s experiences. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has funded a range of research into women’s experiences. This includes a qualitative study into patient and healthcare professionals' experiences of the management, diagnosis, and treatment of endometriosis, which is available at the following link:

https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR156216

It also includes a study to develop a patient-reported outcome measure for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery, which is available at the following link:

https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR152187

The NIHR expects to implement its sex and gender policy in spring 2025. This will ensure that research considers sex and gender across every stage of the research cycle, facilitating both an assessment of funding into topics that impact men and women and, crucially, a greater understanding of how women might be impacted differently.

Work continues to implement the Women's Health Strategy. In the longer term, our priorities for delivering the strategy will be aligned with the 10 Year Plan and the Government's missions. The 10 Year Plan will set out how we tackle the inequities that lead to poor health, including for women.