Scrutiny to hold special hearing focusing on women’s health and wellbeing
Scrutiny
7 April 2025
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The Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel is due to question the Minister for Health and Social Services and the Ministerial team in a public hearing focusing on issues surrounding women’s health and wellbeing.The hearing, at St Paul’s Centre, has been scheduled following the publication of a report by the Public Health department, which looked into the health and wellbeing needs of woman and girls in Jersey. The Panel is also aware of the Government’s decision last year to no longer progress with the development of a specific women’s health strategy.
The Panel wants to know what steps are being taken by the Minister to ensure that women’s needs are being met and how they fit into the overall health strategy. The Panel will ask questions regarding the current services available to women and girls; the funding of those services, and any further ones that may be identified as necessary; and the progress on improvement plans and reviews that are currently underway in this area.
The Panel would also like to hear about the experiences of women and girls and is asking all Islanders to submit their questions for the Ministerial team. The Panel will consider the questions, and they may be included in the question plan for the hearing. Questions can be submitted via email to scrutiny@gov.je. The closing date for submissions is Wednesday 23 April 2025.
Chair of the Panel, Deputy Louise Doublet, said: ‘Our health system belongs to us all and it must serve us all in the best way it can. However, evidence suggests that it historically has been more accommodating towards men’s health needs. That’s not to say the department should be complacent in this area as improvements can always be made, but the Women’s Health and Wellbeing report suggests women and girls in Jersey face several barriers when it comes to their care. These include dismissive and misogynistic attitudes and limited access to specialists. This, along with the Government’s decision to halt progress on a women’s health strategy, has prompted plenty of social debate. Women and girls account for more than half of Jersey’s population. We know from global research that while women live longer than men, they spend a significantly greater proportion of their lives in ill-health. The Panel wants to know how the Minister and his team will use the findings and data from this report to better support women and girls, and ensure their needs are being met in future.’
Members of the public are invited to attend the hearing on Wednesday 30 April between 12pm and 2pm to see first-hand how the Scrutiny process works. Panel members will be available to meet attendees at St Paul’s Centre from 11:30am to answer any questions they might have. Due to the location the hearing cannot be streamed live, but a recording will be made available on the States Assembly website and on YouTube as soon as possible.
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