Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish examples from within the NHS of (a) innovative care and (b) best practice for patients receiving treatment on NHS England’s Gynaecology Service; and if he will make a statement.

NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme published a national report for maternity and gynaecology services for National Health Service clinical teams in September 2021. This outlined opportunities for improvement in the provision of gynaecology services for women in England and sharing best practice for providers.

Gynaecology is also one of six specialties prioritised through GIRFT’s high volume low complexity programme, which supports the establishment of surgical hubs for high-volume procedures and the development of standardised patient pathways to support the recovery of elective services. Standardised pathways of care and best practice for gynaecology patients are available through the Best Practice Library at the following link:

https://www.gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/bpl/

Such examples of best practice include a transition to day-case surgery for a number of gynaecological procedures, including hysterectomy where appropriate, which minimises the patient’s time under anaesthetic and ensures a faster recovery.