Women's Health Report

Healthwatch Bracknell Forest, Healthwatch Slough, and Healthwatch Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead spoke to 580 women as part of this project to understand their experiences of local NHS women’s health services (excluding maternity care).

Out of these, 507 women completed a survey, and 73 took part in focus groups. These focus groups specifically aimed to hear from women of Asian heritage, whose voices were underrepresented in the national Women’s Health Strategy survey.

Key Findings

• Women reported positive experiences when they had quick appointments, clear communication, compassionate care, felt heard, and received helpful information.
• Many women struggled to get the care they needed due to difficulty accessing GP appointments, long referral waits, poor information, feeling unheard or disrespected, and lack of support or services.
• Dedicated resources for women’s health are needed, including translated materials, trained interpreters, culturally sensitive information, and access to wellbeing support and peer networks.
• GPs play a key role in delivering or referring to women’s health services—if hubs aren’t available, women still need access to the joined-up care those hubs were meant to offer.
• Women suggested improving timely access to appointments and creating community-based hubs offering peer support, wellbeing services, and healthcare.
• Most women prefer getting women’s health support from their GP, but uneven staff expertise and service availability make access inconsistent.

Healthwatch recommends the NHS act on these findings and co-produce service changes with local women.