Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to establish women's health hubs in NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB.

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) supports the national ambition to improve access to neighbourhood women’s health services.

Locally, this builds on women’s health hub activity already established across the system, including early adopter sites and primary care network (PCN)-led models delivering a range of core services.

Work is underway to further develop a broader women’s health neighbourhood offer that builds on existing provision, PCN-led innovation and community partnerships.

Existing hub-related activity includes PCN-led women’s health provision in areas such as Wrekin, with workforce upskilling to expand access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and pessary care. Since April 2025, 62 PCN-led LARC clinics have been delivered.

The local model also includes menopause group consultations, community open-day approaches, schools-based menstrual health education, targeted outreach, and data-led work to improve screening uptake and engagement in areas of higher deprivation.

The ICB is progressing a comprehensive women’s health needs assessment using population health management approaches. This will identify priorities for women and girls across the life course and inform the development of future hub models, ensuring services reflect local need, including addressing health inequalities and the challenges of access across a predominantly rural geography.

In parallel, the ICB is exploring opportunities to strengthen prevention and improve coordination across services. This includes work on preconception health, including an education pilot funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, and strengthening links between abortion services and sexual and reproductive health commissioning through a local forum focused on service coordination and shared learning.

The ICB’s approach is to continue strengthening current women’s health hub activity while using needs assessment findings and engagement with primary care, local authorities, NHS and independent providers, and the voluntary and community sector to determine the most appropriate future model. The ambition is to develop a broader, integrated offer that improves access to contraception, menopause support, menstrual health, preconception care and other priority areas identified by women and girls locally.