Recommendation 21

HM Government Deferred

As the report highlights, some reproductive health conditions are not always straightforward to diagnose. Nonetheless, it is not good enough that women with reproductive health conditions often experience a delayed diagnosis, which can lead to disease progression, more invasive treatments and more time in pain. It is essential that all health and care professionals in primary care are able to support their patients, and we encourage primary healthcare professionals to take up relevant training and professional development offered in women’s reproductive health. GPs are responsible for identifying learning needs as part of their CPD . This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by NICE , to ensure that they can provide high-quality care to all patients. NICE has developed a suite of women’s and reproductive health guidelines , and has recently updated guidelines [NG23] on menopause: identification and management and [NG73] on endometriosis (linked above in the government response to ‘Recommendation 6’ in ‘Accessing a diagnosis’). All registered doctors in the UK are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s ( GMC ) Good medical practice . In 2012, GMC introduced revalidation, which: supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice gives patients confidence that doctors are up to date with their practice promotes improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance GMC has also introduced the Medical Licensing Assessment ( MLA ) for most incoming doctors. The MLA content map includes several topics relating to women’s health including: menstrual problems endometriosis menopause urinary incontinence This will encourage a better understanding of common women’s health problems among all doctors as they start their careers in the UK. Women’s health is also included in the RCGP curriculum for trainee GPs , including: gynaecology sexual health breast health The curriculum also covers the healthcare needs of women across all diseases seen in primary care because it is important that women are treated holistically. RCGP has published a Women’s Health Library (linked in the government response to ‘Recommendation 5’ in ‘Accessing a diagnosis’ above), which brings together educational resources and guidelines on women’s health from RCGP , RCOG and FSRH . This resource is continually updated to ensure GPs and other primary healthcare professionals have the most up-to-date advice to provide the best care for their patients. As set out in our previous response to ‘Recommendation 5’ (see ‘Accessing a diagnosis’ above), NHS England is actively assessing workforce training gaps and scoping future clinical training needs as part of the wider approach to workforce reform. It will work closely with professional organisations including RCGP , FSRH and RCOG to support practitioners to achieve the required competencies for delivering high-quality women’s health services in the community.