News

Women’s health package includes new area on NHS website and AI tool to detect early maternity risks

One year on from its Women’s Health Strategy, the government has announced a package of new measures designed to support the health of women and girls, including the introduction of a dedicated area on the NHS website and an online hormone replacement therapy (HRT) hub.

The women and girl’s section on the website aims to support women “at every stage of their lives”, bringing together over 100 topics on women’s health including topics such as adenomyosis, periods, gynaecological conditions, fertility, pregnancy, heart health, cancers and HRT.

Running parallel to this, the online HRT hub will provide information on how to manage menopausal symptoms and the various HRT options available for women to choose from.

The government has announced the development of an artificial intelligence tool designed to detect early risks in maternity units; here are also plans for the government to host an event through which clinicians and data scientists will “collaborate to harness the power of AI to analyse vast amounts of data”, with the aim of identifying concerning trends in maternity units.

The package also includes a new tool on the GOV.UK website which is designed to support greater transparency around IVF, helping people to look up information about NHS-funded IVF treatment available in their area.

In other news around the NHS website, in April we explored the website’s roadmap which placed emphasis on transforming a number of topics to better meet user needs and content design standards.

With regards to women’s healthcare, we recently shared how Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with a new electronic patient record system.

In May, we also covered how University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust expanded their pilot of a new at-home test for expectant mothers, in the hopes of improving screening for gestational diabetes mellitus, preventing the women from having to attend a clinic and allowing them to supply their test data to the trust via a smartphone app.