Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional steps he will take to ensure that medical professionals are able to recognise when women are menopausal so that hormone replacement therapy can be prescribed to eradicate lengthy waits.

In January 2021, NHS England and NHS Improvement established the Menopause Pathway Improvement Programme. The Programme is reviewing and updating information on NHS.UK; designing and introducing evidence-based guides for professionals; reviewing the use of apps to support education and symptom tracking; and supporting local systems to implement change. It will also produce training resources to educate clinicians.

Each medical school in England sets its own undergraduate curriculum which must meet the standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC) in its Outcomes for Graduates. In meeting these standards, the GMC expects that newly qualified doctors are able to identify, treat and manage patients’ care needs, including the menopause and perimenopause.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has also developed a women’s health toolkit, which addresses the symptoms of the menopause and treatment pathways.