Women's Health Plan: Phase Two (2026 - 2029) – Easy Read

Women’s Health Plan: Phase Two (2026 – 2029): Easy Read Summary

What is this document about?

The Women’s Health Plan was published in 2021. An easy read version of this Plan is available online: www.gov.scot/publications/womens-health-plan-easy-read/

It was a Plan to make sure women and girls have better health. The Plan also included ways to make healthcare services better.

We want all women and girls in Scotland to have the best health possible.

Phase 2 of the Women’s Health Plan is the next part of the Plan and sets out actions which will be taken by the Scottish Government.

The First Plan

The first Women’s Health Plan was about the changes needed to improve health for all women and girls in Scotland. Scotland now has:

• A Women’s Health Champion - an expert who raises awareness about women’s health across Scotland.

• Women’s Health Leads in every NHS Board in Scotland.

• A Women’s Health Information section on NHS Inform.

• Training on periods and menopause for doctors and other health workers. Menopause is when women stop having periods.

• A Women’s Health Lived Experience Programme which means the real-life experiences of women and girls help to improve women’s health.

• A Women’s Health Research Fund to improve the information we have about the health of women and girls.

Why we still need a Women’s Health Plan

Women and girls have health needs which can be different from men.

This can be due to issues only women have like periods and menopause. It can also be related to general health, like heart health.

Women and girls may need specific support and information to manage their health and wellbeing across their lives.

Women and girls do not always get equal healthcare.

Equality means everyone has equal access to services they need. Some people might need extra support to access services.

Listening to Women and Girls

We spoke to lots of women and girls when making this next phase of the Women’s Health Plan.

Women and girls told us:

• They wanted to be taken seriously and listened to when seeking healthcare.

• They should get the healthcare they need in the right place and at the right time.

• They wanted to feel more knowledgeable about their health and how they can access support.

Top Priorities

The Scottish Government has four priorities in the next phase of the Women’s Health Plan with four goals:

1. Better gynaecology care for women and girls in Scotland

Gynaecology is healthcare for female body parts. It includes looking after a woman’s vagina and womb.

The Scottish Government will work to make gynaecology services better for women and girls in Scotland. Women will be able to access treatment and care faster.

2. No more cervical cancer in Scotland

The Scottish Government will take action to help women and girls access services to protect them from cervical cancer. They will get the treatment and care they need as quickly as possible.

Cervical cancer is a cancer that starts in the cervix. The cervix is inside a woman’s body. The cervix is at the top of the vagina.

3. Better understanding and support for women’s brain health

More people with dementia are women. This means women need better support with their brain health. A group of experts will look at what changes are needed so women get the help they need.

4. Use new ideas and technology to give women and girls the best quality care.

We will look at new ways to improve the health of women and girls in Scotland. This could be done by using technology or other new ways.

New Actions

As well as these top 4 priorities, there are other actions in the Plan that will help to improve women’s health in Scotland. These include:

Better information about the health of women and girls

We will do more research on the health needs of women and girls in Scotland.

We will make information available for women and girls so they understand more about their health and how to get help.

Better health in the future

We want to help women live longer and healthier lives.

We will give girls and young women better health education so they know what to expect as they grow older. This includes help with their periods.

We want health care professionals to ask women about women’s health issues like periods, menopause and smear tests when they see them for other things.

We want women and girls to stay active in different ways that work for them.

Better gynaecology and reproductive health

We want to help women and girls understand more about periods and menopause.

We want women and girls to get more education on periods, and be aware of what a normal period is. This is so they can get help with any period symptoms that are affecting their lives.

We want to help women understand more about menopause and improve health services. This will help women to manage their menopause symptoms.

Better services for abortion, sexual health and contraception

We want to improve services for abortion, sexual health and contraception for women and girls. We want them to get the information and care they need, as soon as they need it.

Contraception can prevent pregnancy and it can also be used to help with difficult period symptoms, like period pain.

We want women and girls to get better information on contraception. We also want to make improvements to help women to access contraception quickly and easily if they want to, after they have had a baby.

We want to improve abortion services in Scotland. Women should be able to have an abortion safely and when they need it.

Checking our progress

We will need to work together to make the actions in this plan happen.

To do this we will:

• Set up a group which is led by the Minister for Women’s Health. This group will make sure that action is being taken to improve the health of women and girls.

• Publish a report every year about the progress that is being made.