Mayo welcome for significant expansion of women’s health services

A Mayo Oireachtas member has welcomed an allocation of up to €2.5m funding for priority areas within the Women’s Health Action Plan.

Senator Lisa Chambers hosted a Women’s Health Conference yesterday that looked at how to ensure the health system is responsive to women’s health needs.

The Castlebar-based representative stated: “Following on from the Women’s Health Conference, this announcement by Minister Stephen Donnelly is just fantastic to see.

"We are finally starting to make up for years of underinvestment in women’s healthcare.

"Women consistently say they don’t feel listened to or taken seriously when it comes to their healthcare; we are going to change this.”

The Women’s Health Fund (€10 million) will ring-fence €2.5 million for the National Women and Infants Health Programme in the HSE to accelerate service delivery in four critical areas in 2022.

Menopause: The Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 committed to developing 4 specialist menopause clinics nationally in 2022, this further investment will support two additional specialist menopause clinics, bringing a total of six such clinics nationwide for women who require complex, specialist care.

Postnatal Care: The Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 committed to developing a new more holistic model for supporting women in the weeks after giving birth, this investment will support two additional community-based postnatal hubs for women, bringing a total of four hubs nationwide in 2022.

Endometriosis: The Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 committed to supporting the ongoing development of two supra-regional specialist centres for complex care for endometriosis for the first-time.

This latest investment will create a new tier of additional support at hospital level, by investing in resources for two additional interdisciplinary teams to support holistic treatment of endometriosis within each of the hospital networks.

Targeted Support for Marginalised Women: The Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 put a clear focus on increasing supports for marginalised women and groups that face multiple disadvantages.

This investment will support the implementation of additional medical social work resources across the six maternity networks, significantly enhancing this critical support at what can be a vulnerable time for many women.

This ring-fencing marks the first allocations from the Women’s Health Fund for 2022 and will be supported throughout the year by other investments that respond to the issues that women have asked us to prioritise and align with the priorities of the Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23.