The BSGI Vice President, Mr Alan Treharne, welcomed the Minister with responsibility for Women’s Health, Sarah Murphy MS, to Mid Wales this week to visit one of Wales’ first pilot Women’s Health Hubs.

The visit to Aberystwyth highlighted the innovative, community-based model being delivered by Hywel Dda University Health Board as part of the Welsh Government’s wider Women’s Health Plan for Wales. The pilot hub aims to improve access to timely, high-quality care and bring services closer to home for women living in mid and west Wales.

Speaking during the visit, the Minister emphasised the importance of accessible and equitable services for women across Wales. She said:
“Women’s health hubs will make it easier for women in Wales to get care when they need it and bring that care closer to home. The two very different provisions I am visiting in Swansea and Aberystwyth reflect the wide variety of ways health boards are meeting the brief of tackling health inequalities and making sure women’s symptoms are not dismissed.”

The Aberystwyth hub is GP- and nurse-led, offering menopause, menstrual health and contraception services alongside established pelvic physiotherapy and bladder and bowel nurse-led services. In the future, women living in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire will also have access to a virtual multidisciplinary platform linked to the health board’s hubs.

Mr Alan Treharne, Consultant Gynaecologist at Hywel Dda University Health Board and Clinical Director for the Ceredigion Community and Integrated Medicine Group, highlighted the success of the pilot and plans for future expansion. He noted that the Padarn Surgery hub is working well, with plans to develop seven women’s health hubs aligned to GP clusters across the Hywel Dda area.

Mr Treharne welcomed the progress of the pilot, expressing his optimism about the positive impact the women’s health hubs will have as they continue to develop, improving access to care and outcomes for women across mid and west Wales.

The visit followed the Minister’s attendance at a pelvic floor physiotherapy session in Swansea, delivered as part of a new community-based service linked to the virtual women’s health hub being developed by Swansea Bay University Health Board, demonstrating the range of models being adopted across Wales.

Dr Helen Munro, Clinical Lead for the National Strategic Network for Women’s Health, said the hubs represent a meaningful shift in how women’s healthcare is delivered across Wales, bringing together menopause, menstrual health, contraception and pelvic health services in an accessible, community-based model shaped by women’s lived experiences.

The Women’s Health Hubs form a key part of the Women’s Health Plan for Wales, published last year by the National Strategic Clinical Network for Women’s Health. The plan sets out more than 60 actions across eight priority areas, informed by feedback from around 4,000 women across Wales, with the aim of closing the gender health gap.

Each health board has received additional funding to support the development of the pathfinder women’s health hubs, which will be evaluated later this year as services continue to expand across Wales.