The Women's Health Strategy has been renewed with plans to put women's voices at the centre.
A trial will be conducted looking into ways in which women’s feedback can be directly linked to provider funding and targeted improvements. This is to ensure services are held accountable for listening to women, in a bid to stamp out long-standing issues with women being ignored.
A single referral point will direct women to the right professional first time, while local services will be linked with online support to cut waiting lists.
A new standard of care will be introduced to ensure women are offered appropriate and effective pain relief for invasive gynaecological procedures including contraceptive fitting and hysteroscopies.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: "We inherited a broken NHS, which was particularly felt by women, who have for so long been let down by a healthcare system that too often gaslights women, treating their pain as an inconvenience and their symptoms as an overreaction.
"Whether it’s being passed from one appointment to another for conditions like endometriosis and fibroids, or a lack of proper pain relief during invasive procedures, through to having to navigate symptoms for years before receiving a diagnosis, it’s clear the system is failing women.
"Women’s voices must be central to delivering effective, respectful and empathetic care. We need to hit medical misogyny where it hurts - the wallet. Today’s renewed strategy will tackle the issues women face everyday and ensure no woman is left fighting to be heard."
Dr Sue Mann, NHS England’s clinical director for women’s health, said: "We have come a long way in the last decade with women’s health being talked about more but there are still parts of society and the health system that are trapped in outdated thinking.
"Too many women are still dismissed for serious symptoms that impact on every part of their lives, whether that’s menstrual pain, irregular periods, or hot flushes and brain fog that affect many women experiencing the menopause.
"The renewed women’s health strategy will build significantly on the work the NHS has been doing to ensure women are heard and get the specialist care they need – with a focus on bringing down waiting times, delivering more care in communities, and giving women more choice over their care."
