To ask the Minister of Health for an update on the proposed Women’s Health Action Plan.

Work on a Women’s Health Action Plan is continuing with a current focus on engagement with harder-to-reach groups of women. I recognise that many women have felt overlooked within our health and social care system for a long time, and that some services have not met their needs. Work is ongoing to address these issues, and the Action Plan aims to further raise the profile of women’s health and accelerate positive change.

It is important that women’s voices and experiences are reflected in the plan. To support its development, my Department has contributed £20k to the large-scale public listening exercise being undertaken by Derry Well Women and Queen’s University Belfast. Over 2,300 women responded to the Phase 1 health survey, and I am grateful to them. Phase 2 is currently underway in the form of focus groups with harder-to-reach women.

This work is expected to conclude early next year and will form a key part of the evidence base for the Women’s Health Action Plan.

Whilst development of the Action Plan continues, I want to assure Members that work on many of its key initiatives and actions are continuing – we are not waiting for the publication of the plan to begin to address important challenges in the here and now.

This is, of course, very challenging in view of resource constraints across the Health and Social Care system, however I am pleased that GP elective gynaecology services have been re-established at 100% capacity from April this year, and a further £3.5m of elective care funding has been earmarked for capacity building for red flag and time critical gynaecology.

I aim to publish the Action Plan early next year after the findings from the listening exercise are known.