When Eluned Morgan MS became First Minister, she made women’s health a priority for the Welsh Government — building on work she began as Health Minister to address decades of systemic inequity in care for women and girls.
In July 2022, she delivered an oral statement to the Senedd announcing a new Women and Girls’ Health Quality Statement, acknowledging the harm caused when women receive care modelled on the “male experience of illness” rather than services tailored to women’s needs. The commitment was clear: close the gender health gap and improve outcomes across the life course.
Progress and pace
Progress towards a comprehensive Women’s Health Plan was slow, taking more than two years to materialise.
Incremental steps were taken during 2024 — including a March written statement on specialist endometriosis nurses, pelvic health coordinators and a Discovery Report, and an October Ministerial Summit prioritising menstrual disorders, endometriosis and menopause. However, the full plan did not arrive until December 2024.
The Plan set a ten‑year vision (2025–2035) with 64 actions, including:
- Establishing women’s health hubs in every health board by 2026;
- Allocating £750,000 for research; and
- Training clinicians to improve conversations about menstrual and menopause health.
While the plan was welcomed as a milestone, stakeholders — including the Senedd Health and Social Care Committee — voiced concerns that its focus leaned heavily towards gynaecological services, calling for a broader, better‑funded approach across women’s health.
Much of the plan’s early success now appears to hinge on the rollout of Women’s Health Hubs, with Plenary scheduled to hear more in a statement this week (on 20 January).
Year 1: what was achieved
In December 2025, the Welsh Government reported progress on roughly a third of the plan’s 64 actions in its first year. It highlighted:
- The launch of Women’s Health Research Wales, a new national centre established in December 2025 to bring experts together and strengthen women’s health research;
- Development of pathfinder Women’s Health Hubs in every health board area, due to begin opening in early 2026; and
- new school resources to improve young people’s understanding of menstrual health and wellbeing, including updates to the “Bloody Brilliant” campaign.
The Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Sarah Murphy MS, also set out the government’s Year 2 priorities: hubs, research, endometriosis, abortion care, and embedding women’s voices through co-production across all health boards.
These are notable steps - many advocated for by women and advocacy organisations - but concerns persist that broader health issues (cardiovascular disease, mental health, ageing and long‑term conditions) and the wider determinants of health (poverty, housing and cross‑government action) still receive limited attention, despite their importance being acknowledged in the plan itself.
Women’s Health Hubs – purpose and promise
What they are
Women’s Health Hubs are positioned by the Welsh Government as a cornerstone of the 10‑year plan and a key mechanism to deliver many of its actions. They aim to offer integrated, community‑based access for menopause, period problems, contraception and pelvic pain — bringing support closer to home and easing pressure on hospital pathways. Pathfinder hubs are due to open from early 2026.
Why they could work
By co-locating women’s services and enabling advanced diagnostics in the community, hubs aim to streamline pathways, cut unnecessary referrals and improve access — particularly in rural areas.
Clinical commentary published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) argues that Women’s Health Hubs can provide scalable, patient‑centred, equitable care when integrated with sexual health, menopause and gynaecology services and equipped with advanced diagnostics. The article highlights the Bevan Exemplar community gynaecology clinic in Ceredigion as good practice — noting fewer follow‑ups, released diagnostic capacity and improved access.
What the Welsh Government has said recently
The Women’s Health Newsletter (December 2025) confirms that every health board has begun developing hubs, supported by workforce reviews, stakeholder engagement and funding rounds, and reiterates the early‑2026 pathfinder timetable. It also underscores a commitment to co‑production and to launching a national women’s health website to centralise information.
However, transparency is uneven: while all health boards are developing hubs, detailed local implementation plans are not consistently published.
From intent to delivery: questions for to consider
With pathfinder hubs due to start opening in early 2026, the next phase is about delivery that women can genuinely see and feel. To provide confidence and clarity, there are still many questions to address:
- Will the hubs operate as genuinely multidisciplinary centres —combining menopause, contraception, sexual health, pelvic pain and diagnostics under one roof — and how will they interface with GP services and specialist hospital pathways to avoid duplication and confusion?
- What minimum service standards will apply across health boards to ensure equitable access (including rural communities), and how will performance be monitored and published — for example, on waiting times, referral diversion and patient‑reported outcomes?
- Will hubs have point‑of‑care diagnostics (e.g., ultrasound) and consultant‑led assessment where appropriate, replicating the Bevan Exemplar at scale? What workforce upskilling and capital investment are in place to deliver this consistently?
- How will hubs support women with cardiovascular risk, mental health, ageing and long‑term conditions, and violence against women — so the model advances the plan’s life‑course approach rather than narrowing it?
- What mechanisms will ensure women’s voices continue to shape hub design and improvement in each health board area, and how will this be reported publicly?
- What are the milestones for each pathfinder hub in 2026, when is full rollout expected, and will health boards publish their implementation plans and evaluation frameworks in a consistent, accessible format?
A pivotal test of delivery - and of trust
The Welsh Government has set a clear direction: to listen to women, close the gender health gap, and make services more equitable across the life course. The new hubs are central to this ambition by moving care closer to people, integrating services, and bringing diagnostics into the community. Early evidence from Wales suggests this approach can improve access and make services more efficient.
But whether the hubs succeed will depend on how well they are designed and how openly they are delivered. The question is not whether hubs are a good idea in principle; it is whether the roll out will deliver for women across Wales — fairly, consistently, and quickly.
If the Minister can answer that convincingly, the hubs could become the lever that turns a ten‑year plan into measurable change in women’s lives. If not, the risk is a patchwork of provision that leaves the broader promise unfulfilled.
Article by Sarah Hatherley, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
