7 things Yvette Cooper needs to tackle as health secretary
From proper accountability for birth trauma to better menopause care, here are our recommendations for Yvette Cooper. With Andy Burnham taking over as prime minister, it’s all change in Westminster. A thorough. . .
From proper accountability for birth trauma to better menopause care, here are our recommendations for Yvette Cooper. With Andy Burnham taking over as prime minister, it’s all change in Westminster. A thorough cabinet reshuffle has seen a changing of the guard, and most notably for us here at Well byStylist, there’s a new secretary of state for health and social care. We worked withWes Streeting, the previous incumbent, on ourEvery Loss Countscampaign, and we were pleasantly surprised by how central to his 10-year health plan women seemed to be. Now he’s gone, we have the first Labour woman in the role for almost 20 years. So, what’s set to change?Yvette Cooper certainly has her work cut out. NHS waiting lists may have gone down since Labour came back into power, but they’re still out of control. In an advanced economy, is it reasonable to expect women to wait nearly adecade for an endometriosis diagnosis? At a time when governments are freaking out about afalling birth rate, what’s being done to reduce the risk of birth trauma? Where are we at with mental health provision?Below are some of the healthcare items on TeamStylist’s wishlist. Some might sound obvious, but often, it’s the low-hanging fruit (eg not letting women die in childbirth) that makes the greatest difference to the largest number of people. Launch a public inquiry (with real-life ramifications) into maternal deaths and injuriesIf you read theOckendon reportor theAmos reviewinto the ongoing maternal health scandal, you’ll be as disgusted as we are at the total lack of accountability for harming women and babies. We want to see concrete action: who is being prosecuted for permanently harming women in childbirth? What justice will there be for families who lost children and mothers unnecessarily? Will the General Medical Council bepublicly grilled for lack of action?If faith in the healthcare service is to be restored – and the falling birth rate is to start to slow down – these scandals can’t just be resolved with a series of recommendations. It’s imperative that change happens now. Make access to gynaecologists easier for all women“It can take up to a year to see a gynaecologist right now, which is terrible,” says Abena Antwiwaa,Stylist’s junior social producer. According to RCOG, only 57% of women are seen within the government’s 18-week target for gynaecology, with a waiting list of over 550,000. In many countries, women have access to a gynaecologist in the same way as we do dentists, and while few of us would want to start paying for that service, it would be good to know what the barriers are to every woman having access to gynaecological services. Credit: pixeleyesIn the meantime, Abena wants to see more women’s health hubs – something Streeting started to roll out – which work to ease the triage problems in the community. Challenge the NHS’s approach to eating disorder treatmentAll too often, you hear about eating disorder services that require a full relapse or for people to reach rock bottom before help can come. Or when patients are offered treatment, they’re released with “dangerously low” BMIs. More investment into these services would mean treatment reaching patients before issues become critical. “We also need better long-term recovery support to help with women who may go back into relapse,” says Soraya Gaied Chortane,Stylist’s fashion writer. “NHS therapy wait lists are ridiculous, and when you are seen, they’re often inflexible – especially when you’re working full-time. I understand why that is, but there should be a maximum wait time in place so you don’t have to reach crisis point. ”More help for the 10% of women living with PMOS and endometriosis“I want to see the new health secretary deliver meaningful change for people living withPMOSand endometriosis,” says writer Abby Allen. “We’re constantly hearing about new initiatives, policies and treatments, but as someone with PMOS, I still feel in the dark when it comes to practical support and real progress. Too often, announcements don’t translate into tangible improvements in diagnosis, treatment or day-to-day care. I’d like to see women’s health conditions be genuinely prioritised, with action that makes a real and lasting difference to our lives. ”Bring the routine mammogram age down to 25Digital executive editor Susanne Norris says: “I want to bring the routine mammogram age down to 25, like a smear test. We’ve seen from smears how lives can be saved with routine screenings – why can’t we do the same for boobs, especially with more and more younger women being diagnosed with breast cancer?”Right now, you’ve got to wait until you’re 50 to be invited to a routine mammogram. Given that, according todata from the BCRFin the US, women under 40 at diagnosis are nearly 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than women over 40, that seems completely unhinged. Up to9,000 women under 50in the UK are diagnosed with the disease each year, with almost a third of all cancer deaths being breast-related. Women under 40 are 40% more likely to die from breast cancerWe know that rates of the disease in younger women are on the rise, but the only advice is still to check your own boobs. Any plan for better women’s health has to address this growing issue. Work with universities and hospitals for better empathy training around miscarriage and pregnancy lossWhen we interviewed hundreds of women for our Every Loss Counts report, one of the main issues we heard time and time again was the total lack of compassion shown by medical professionals during and after pregnancy loss. Streeting was starting to do some great work, creating separate spaces in hospitals for grieving families and providingbaby loss certificates, but there’s still plenty to be done. The way in which medical professionals talk about ‘non-viable pregnancies’ needs to systemically change – and that starts with the way doctors, midwives and nurses are trained. Creating acrib sheet of acceptable language(not using the term ‘spontaneous abortion’ moments after telling someone they’re having a miscarriage, for example) would be a great place to start. Why not make it standard to ask if parents want the word ‘baby’, ‘foetus’ or ‘pregnancy’ to be used? Until someone works out the key to chronic understaffing, we’re always going to have disillusioned people caring for us in moments of extreme vulnerability – but at least if everyone knew the right sort of phrases to use, that could make a difference. Credit: GettyDevelop a proper menopause pathway“I’m curious to see if she’ll tackle menopause – and everything that encompasses for women – in a more meaningful way,” says Felicity Thistlewaithe-Awan,Stylist’s head of digital. “It feels like it’s become a priority area for business and private ventures to tackle, ‘cure’ and find a ‘fix’ for, but how can our NHS systems lean into this huge life stage and support women more keenly than they already are?”Given thatwomen spend 40% of their lives pre- or post-menopause, it’s bonkers not to have a standardised pathway to follow – similar to pregnancy. The moment you register a pregnancy, you’re given a book that takes you right up until birth and gets filled out with all your test results, scans and monthly metrics. Once you’re diagnosed to be in perimenopause, we could have the same: a planner that follows you to a year post-menopause in which symptoms, blood tests, scans and medications can be recorded. By the time you reach the ‘end’ of the process, a professional would have a 10-year record of your menopausal journey and be able to advise on next steps – whether that’s continuing with HRT or preparing to come off it, advice on maintaining fitness, as well as diet and sleep management. Menopause seems to be something for businesses to ‘cure’The problem right now is that the gap in care is being filled, as Felicity says, by private companies who have a captive and often desperate audience. While some supplements and products may work or complement medical assistance, we shouldn’t have to only rely on for-profit businesses for help. Use public feedback to improve local services – including best practicesHere’s my biggest brag: I have the UK’s best GP. OK, I don’t know that for certain, but I’m continually amazed by how excellent my local clinic is (shout out to Spring Hill Practice) compared to the stories I hear about others. The NHS isn’t universally broken, nor are GP services, but because we rarely hear about the great stuff, confidence is at an all-time low. Many people don’t know that you can choose your GP surgery based on Google reviews (which is what I did). We could do with greater accountability and more reward for the places that get things right, as well as a public information piece on how to switch GPs, request a female doctor, ask for a chaperone or complain about treatment. Shift to a preventative, not treatment-based, healthcare systemLike many PTs, I’m trained to work with GPs. I can help you if your weight is affecting your health, if you’re trying to reduce high blood pressure or if you need a bit of advice on getting moving for anxiety. Sadly, we were all warned at graduation that very few GPs have the time or resources to work with qualified PTs. At a time when we’re surrounded by ‘fat jab’ chat and high levels of poor mental health, it’s tragic that an effective, almost free tool (exercise) isn’t a regular prescription. If we thought about health from a preventative standpoint rather than something to be treated, we’d see exercise for the miracle pill it really is. Just15 minutes of movement a day can improve mood, sleep, cholesterol, gut health and more. You don’t have to be ‘good’ at it, and you don’t need lots of equipment – but you do need guidance and motivation. So, isn’t it time to start roping in the PTs?Images: Yvette Cooper ©House of Commons; Getty; Pixeleyes