Spotlight shone on women’s health issues during special Scrutiny hearing
Scrutiny
2 May 2025
Around thirty members of the public and medical professionals joined the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel for a special hearing dedicated to the topic of women’s health held at St Paul’s Centre on Wednesday 30 April.The Panel questioned the Minister for Health and Social Services and his team regarding a number of issues and barriers highlighted in a report by Public Health. They included dismissive and misogynistic attitudes and limited access to specialist care. The Panel also raised issues related to pain management, contraception charges and breast screening which had been highlighted by members of the public.
The Panel heard that the Women’s Health Political Advisory Group had identified five areas from the Public Health report which it felt should be prioritised. These include the development of programmes to help women live healthy lifestyles, improving the uptake of screening programmes and reviewing the way contraception services operate. The Minister noted that not all of the issues raised by the report could be addressed by the health department and a Ministerial working group was being established to address other areas highlighted.
Funding was a key issue which was discussed during the hearing, with the Minister stating that the department’s budget was under a huge amount of pressure, and it was likely it would overspend again this year. The Minister told the Panel he would look at all funding options available including the use of the Strategic Reserve Fund.
During questioning, it was noted that many women feel they cannot access adequate information about specialist care or upcoming procedures. The Minister and his team committed to ensuring that the health department’s website and all literature is brought up-to-date and that all the available options for women’s pain relief during procedures are made clear.
The Panel also heard that an opt-out system for breast screening will be introduced by the end of the year now that the new unit at the Enid Quenault Centre is operational. Results from patient feedback surveys suggest 89% of respondents reported they had a very good experience using the new unit.
Chair of the Panel, Deputy Louise Doublet, said: ‘I want to thank the members of the public who attended the hearing and showed their support for the Scrutiny process. The Panel feels the issues surrounding women’s healthcare in Jersey are important and it is clear from the hearing that many people agree. While it seems positive steps are being made to address some of the concerns raised, there is still more work to be done. The lack of a dedicated women’s health strategy leaves those departments fighting for funding and that risks impacting the care of Islanders. While the Panel understands there are pressures on the department’s budget, it would ask the Minister to consider prioritising funding to some areas of women’s health in the future. It is important women and girls feel like they are being listened to, and therefore we ask the Minister and his team to use the details expressed in the Public Health report to ensure any policy changes benefit everyone. The Panel will continue to question the Minister about this important topic in future hearings.’
Due to the location the hearing could not be streamed live, but a recording has been made available on the States Assembly YouTube channel.
