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“I have no faith in the system anymore” – answers sought after damning report into women’s health failings
The recent Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) report further highlighted how the UK public healthcare system is failing to meet the needs of women—now they want to see solutions.
For many women, the WEC report published late last year revealed little they didn’t already know.
Women are constantly having their symptoms dismissed by healthcare providers, due to stigma, lack of education and ‘medical misogyny’, the committee found, often leaving them undiagnosed and in unnecessary pain for years.
The report is the latest to highlight how a historical gap in understanding and prioritisation of women’s-health related symptoms, is leaving them without access to appropriate care and treatment.
In November, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) revealed that waiting lists for gynaecology have doubled since 2020, with three quarters of a million now waiting for treatment across the UK.
Almost three years on from the launch of the Women’s Health Strategy, which was set up to address the inequities in women’s healthcare in the NHS, there is a sense that while more awareness is welcome, not enough action is being taken.
“People are now at a point of real frustration,” Gabz Pearson, co-founder of the Menstrual Health Project, a charity which was set up to educate women and girls about their menstrual and reproductive health, tells Femtech World.
“This isn’t new information, it’s something that people in the community have been advocating and campaigning for, for a long time. We’re now almost three years into the Women’s Health Strategy and I don’t see any real improvement.”
Gabz Pearson, co-founder, The Menstrual Health Project
Provide streamlined and seamless services
Pearson says reading the report was like reading her own story. From her symptoms starting at the age of 10, it took almost a decade for her to finally be diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis.
To date she has had five surgeries, the last two of which she paid for privately, and the widespread pain she experiences has left her with mobility issues. At 32, she is planning to undergo a private hysterectomy next year.
“I’m still struggling in the healthcare system,” she says. “I have no faith in the NHS anymore…If anything, it’s just getting worse.”
Pearson is currently under the care of four different hospital trusts, the furthest of which is a two hour drive away. Some of the biggest frustrations for patients, she says, stem from the disparate pathways and lack of communication between services, particularly those operating under different care boards.
“It creates so much disparity and confusion for people,” she says. “We need to have continuity across the UK when it comes to pathways and treatment.”
While the women’s health hub model has the potential to be a ‘positive step towards providing the joined-up care and commissioning’, the WEC report raises concerns that it exists within a healthcare system which has ‘significant commissioning, funding, workforce and expertise problems, particularly in the area of reproductive health’.
Improve access to digital information
In 2023, Pearson attended A&E and was forced to wait six hours to see a general doctor, who told her “everything seemed fine”. Despite her diagnosis and insistence that she needed to be referred to a gynaecology specialist, staff weren’t able to access her medical records and refused to triage her to gynaecology. Two months later, a laparoscopy revealed that her bowel and ovary had fused to her pelvis, with adhesions detected from her hip to her ribs.
“Many women don’t want to go to A&E, they would rather suffer at home,” she says.
“There should be a more seamless system. It should be easier for patients and healthcare professionals to access your information digitally. In Wales patients don’t even have access to the NHS app.”
As well as improving training and education among health professionals, the WEC is calling for the NHS to improve its ‘digital and social media presence’ in relation to reproductive health conditions. It must ensure the NHS website and app are ‘comprehensive, accessible, inclusive, and highly-visible’ to ensure it is a ‘first-port-of-call to prevent misinformation’.
This was already addressed in the Women’s Health Strategy for England, which states that the NHS will transform its website into a “world-class, first port of call for women’s health information” by updating content, adding new content and including third-party content to create a “trusted and comprehensive guide to women’s health”.
Yet many women, the WEC highlights, continue to turn to online spaces and a ‘proliferation of femtech apps’ to self-diagnose and fill the gaps in their knowledge currently left by public health providers.
Explore collaborations and partnerships
Charities, such as the Menstrual Health Project, have also stepped in to provide the information and resources not currently delivered through the NHS. But these organisations continually face barriers such as access to public funding and a hesitance within the NHS to pursue partnerships and collaborations.
“A big reason why we charities and organisations exist is because the government and the NHS aren’t doing enough in a proactive way, especially when it comes to women’s health,” says Pearson.
“We created our menstrual health toolkits because it was really hard to find all the information in one space. The NHS should be working with organisations, co-production is the way forward. There are so many amazing startups and companies that are really trying to innovate and push the boundaries. It feels like the NHS doesn’t want to approve these resources, but they also aren’t willing to do anything themselves.”
Last month, Dr Sue Mann, NHS England’s first national clinical director for women’s health, told the WEC that the public sector must “keep pace” with innovation and “understand the [femtech] space better” to help people navigate it in a way which is helpful for their health.
The committee has also recommended the inclusion of an ‘interactive tool’ on the NHS website which can help women determine whether they might have a reproductive health condition.
Respondents to the Women’s Health Strategy for England’s call for evidence suggested a need for further research into digital technologies that help women understand their bodies better and to consider how the femtech sector could collaborate with the NHS. Meanwhile earlier this year, the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare issued a funding call for proposals from femtech companies.
However there remains concerns in the public health system that the femtech sector ‘may present a risk to women, especially in areas of data protection’.
Build a strong evidence base for innovative solutions
Dr Michael Watts, co-founder of Blum Health is an NHS clinician who now supports public and private sector organisations to bring innovative technologies to the NHS and international healthcare. Blum Health is now the software manufacturer for several NHS trusts across the UK, supporting them to build new technologies within the public sector ecosystem.
He says for companies looking to target this market, it is crucial to build a strong evidence base.
“Companies often overlook this,” he tells Femtech World. “They just look at the big, shiny end-solution, but they haven’t got a foundational evidence base to structure a fundamental solution roadmap.
“There’s two problems you have to tackle as a tech company; the clinical problem that you’re trying to solve and the patient experience (regardless of whether they are a direct user or indirect beneficiary). You have to demonstrate that it’s as safe as the current state-of-the-art, that it provides the same level of clinical care without compromising safety, and an equally, if not, better experience for the patient.
“If you can reduce resources, without compromising safety, and with a better patient experience, you’re much more likely to succeed as an innovation.”
He continues: “Someone’s only going to use something if it’s less painful than the pain of staying the same. For example, an eLeaflet mobile app has to be easier than having to trawl public health websites to learn about (for example) endometriosis. It has to be a better user experience, it has to be faster (by delivering information in a more digestible way) and more easily accessible (for example, delivered in the patients first language), and it has to deliver clinical grade information in a meaningful way, based on that patient’s age and demographic.”
Invest in people, as well as tech
Watts believes tech can play an important role in helping improve the support and information available to patients, and that the NHS could better utilise tools for telemedicine consultations, digital screening, self-referrals and access to content. But he’s wary of relying too heavily on certain technologies, especially for those seeking an initial diagnosis.
“It comes down to what information that solution has been built upon, and if that’s a non-representative data set, it could be subject to bias,” he adds.
“Whatever the solution is, at least for now – it will likely require a human in the loop, because you can never remove women’s access to a human clinician.”
Pearson agrees that while she will always welcome a telephone appointment if it means she gets seen quicker, she wants to see more investment in people, as well as technology.
“We need more women’s health nurses within GPs and hospitals. There are so few endometriosis specialists, but there also needs to be women’s health nurses who know about conditions like adenomyosis, PCOS, and fibroids,” she adds.
“There’s not enough resources or incentive for people to go down those specialist routes.”
Women in Europe’s health and care sector face a 19 per cent hourly gender pay gap, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report.
Women account for 77 per cent of the sector’s workforce, compared with 45 per cent across all other sectors combined, but make up only 55 per cent of its top earners.
The hourly gender pay gap widens at higher wage levels, from 2 per cent among the lowest earners to more than 22 per cent at the top.
The WHO report found that health and care accounts for almost 17 per cent of all women’s employment in its European Region, compared with 5 per cent of men’s employment.
The sector is the fourth-largest employer overall and the single largest employer of women in the region.
Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, director of the Division for Health Systems at WHO Europe, said: “Women make up the majority of the people who keep Europe’s health systems running, yet they’re paid less than their male counterparts, a gap that compounds over a lifelong career.”
The findings follow a pattern seen across the wider labour market, with structural inequality increasing at higher wage and seniority levels.
Globally, women working in health earn an average of 24 per cent less than men, according to the report, a wider gap than in many other industries.
Some of the difference in pay could be explained by work-related factors, including age, education, public or private sector employment and whether people worked full-time or part-time.
After adjusting for those four factors, the hourly pay gap fell from 19 per cent to 6 per cent, while the monthly gap declined from 28 per cent to 10 per cent.
The remaining difference could not be explained by factors measured in the data.
“Most of this gap isn’t down to women working fewer hours, being younger or working in different parts of the sector,” Azzopardi Muscat said.
“It comes down to how the sector values women’s work. Age, education, working hours and public versus private sector employment only helps explain some of it.”
WHO said the findings point to factors including the undervaluation of care work, occupational segregation and potential discrimination in pay-setting practices.
Occupational categories with a higher proportion of women paid less across managerial, professional and technical roles.
Management jobs in health and care employ more women than management roles in other sectors and pay an average of €22 per hour, compared with €24.70 in comparable roles elsewhere.
WHO described the gender pay gap as one of the most persistent forms of labour market inequality. Given the number of women working in health and care, it said the gap could have important economic and social consequences.
The report said the inequality may lead to lower lifetime earnings and pension entitlements, increase women’s risk of poverty, reduce returns to education and undermine sustainable economic growth.
“It means lower pensions, less financial security in older age, and a higher risk of poverty for women who’ve spent their working lives caring for others,” said Azzopardi Muscat.
“This isn’t a coincidence, and it isn’t about qualifications. Women are being paid less for the same work and passed over for the roles that pay more.”
WHO said closing gender pay gaps was both an equity imperative and an investment in a stronger and more sustainable health workforce.
It suggested measures including greater salary transparency, increased female representation in decision-making roles and action to address gender norms and stereotypes.
Higher BMI at 20 was linked to a lower risk of post-menopausal breast cancer in an analysis of more than 33,000 women.
Lower breast density later in life may partly explain the link between higher body mass index, or BMI, in early adulthood and lower breast cancer risk after menopause.
The findings could help explain why higher body weight in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood appears linked to lower long-term risk, while being overweight in middle age is associated with increased breast cancer risk.
First author Dr Benoit Jauniaux, a surgical trainee in the North-West Deanery, said: “Researchers in previous studies have observed that women with a higher BMI in childhood or their early adulthood appear to have a lower risk of breast cancer after the menopause, but we have not fully understood why.
“This study suggests that downstream changes to breast density may explain a large part of this effect.”
The study was published in the British Journal of Cancer on 17 September 2026 and was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Manchester.
Researchers at The University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust followed 33,816 women taking part in the UK Predicting Risk of Cancer at Screening (PROCAS) programme for more than a decade.
They recorded 1,261 cases of post-menopausal breast cancer and compared women’s self-reported BMI at age 20 with breast density measurements from routine mammograms.
Breast density refers to the amount of fibrous and glandular tissue compared with fatty tissue in the breast. Women with denser breasts are known to have a higher risk of breast cancer.
Women with a higher BMI at age 20 generally had lower percentage breast density later in life and were less likely to develop post-menopausal breast cancer.
For every five-point increase in BMI at age 20, the risk of developing post-menopausal breast cancer fell by around 15 per cent. Further analysis suggested lower breast density may account for almost 60 per cent of this effect.
Researchers believe the timing of body weight gains may be crucial because women’s breasts are still developing during adolescence and early adulthood, potentially leading to long-term changes in tissue structure.
The study also found that different measures of breast density may reflect different biological pathways linked to breast cancer risk.
One measure, estimating the percentage of dense tissue within the breast, appeared to capture some of the lasting effects associated with higher body weight in early adulthood. Another measure, based on the total volume of glandular tissue, appeared to be more strongly influenced by body weight later in life.
Senior author Professor Andrew Renehan is professor of cancer studies and surgery at The University of Manchester and programme co-lead in the Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Theme at the NIHR BRC: Manchester/
The researcher said: “These findings do not suggest that gaining weight is protective.
“What they offer is further insight into how breast tissue and consequent breast cancer risk may be shaped across a woman’s lifetime, and we want to understand these mechanisms further.
“Maintaining a healthy weight remains important, because excess weight in later adulthood is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer and many other serious diseases.
“But this study adds to growing evidence that exposures during early life can have lasting effects on health decades later.”
AI-powered journaling app Véa is supporting mental health by helping women to understand their thoughts, triggers and behavioural patterns.
Winner of the Brain and Mental Health Innovation Award at this year’s Femtech World Awards, Véa is designed to address the emotional gap in women’s health technology.
The journal – which has been built by a female team and trained on women’s health papers – tracks inner states, provides personalised insights and somatic practices, and utilises AI to explain complex neuroscience in relatable terms.
Described by its founders as a “protector, seeker, and sculptor”, Véa provides a longitudinal map of women’s emotional journeys, integrating journaling with therapy and both in-person and online community support.
The journal’s goal is to improve women’s mental health without replacing professional care.
Zahra Bhatti, co-founder and CEO and Katrina Zalcmane , co-founder and growth lead speak to Femtech World about the technology, winning a Femtech World Award and their plans for the future.
Women’s health and wellbeing technology has grown so rapidly over the last few years, but is largely focused around physical health. What was the emotional gap that you saw that inspired you to create the journal?
“Women’s health has been focused on reproductive health and physical health, but it is all one ecosystem – it always starts with the mind,” says Zahra.
“Whatever you feel down here, you feel up there too, and the hormones reflect that.
“With Véa, it was actually built from our own personal experience of burnout.
“We wanted to make a space where women could feel safe and were able to reflect what’s on their mind, but also understand their mind the same way that women understand their hormones.
“Women need to understand what happens in our minds. Véa helps women to understand cognitive distortions, why they feel the way they feel, black and white thinking – we wanted to really surface that for them.
“For example, when you’re in your luteal phase, your serotonin levels drop, so that means you’re going to be a bit more nervous.
“You’re going to be more reactive. You’re going to be taking things more deeply, and that’s something that your rational mind wouldn’t normally do if you’re in your ovulation phase.
“So that’s what Véa does – she reflects that back to you, so you understand your body and thought processes.”
Véa describes itself as a journal that’s designed for the female mind. What does that mean in practice, and how does the experience differ from using traditional journaling?
“The majority of our team is female, so Véa has been built from all of our lived experiences, and the AI itself is trained on women’s health papers,” says Katrina.
“It takes into account what having a certain condition means for individuals. For example, if you have endometriosis or PCOS, We’ve trained our AI on womens health data and research, which gets reflected back to the woman in a simple and effective way
“We have a clinical board, who are all also women, who look through the AI and the language. They ensure that all outputs are evidence based, ethical and take into account the various therapies which are proven to work for women.
“We also have somatic practices which are focused on women which we call “rituals”. We have a self-inquiry ritual, a confidence mirror ritual, or we have one of our psychotherapists on the board who does therapy through novels, for example.
“These aim to make you the protagonist of your story.
“Generic journaling apps are one size fits all, but women are not one size fits all, and that’s what we’ve made sure to put in the forefront of Véa.”
Instead of conventional mood tracking, you are focused on the inner states of women. How do you develop that approach, and what kind of insights has it revealed about how women reflect on their emotions?
Katrina says: “Mood plays a part in our inner state and Véa checks in on that.
“It allows you to have a journey across time. For example, on a good day, maybe their “protector” aspect is good at setting boundaries, but on a bad day, it could be really closed off.
“It’s a richer approach, and these inner states are tied to specific prompts which are then linked in the journaling.”
“As women, we are fluid,” adds Zahra.
“We are not one entity.
“For example, you might be in a state where you’re really overthinking, but actually, you’re seeking new perspectives, and that’s why within Véa, the inner state is called a “seeker”.
“When you converse with Véa in your seeker mode, she will challenge you in a Socratic way.
“However, the next day, you might be a “protector”, and then Véa will adjust her voice for a reflective and exploratory tone compared to when you were a seeker.
“Another state which I love is the “sculptor” which is when you’re feeling confident.
“When you’re a sculptor, Véa will talk about how you can be creative, asking questions such as ‘what did you create today?’ ‘How did that make you feel?’ and ‘How would you describe that if you could put a shape to this color, this feeling?’, for example.
“Véa goes into all of these different modes, and it builds a longitudinal map of the woman as well. So, throughout weeks, months and years, you can see how you’ve changed across time.”
How did you approach designing an AI companion that feels supportive without replacing human connection or professional care?
“For the past six years, I’ve been a product manager. So I’ve seen how all of these web apps and applications have been built, and I’ve worked quite deeply with AI so I knew what was missing and like what women truly needed,” says Zahra.
“The key thing for us is that we want to bring “URL to IRL” [in real life].
“We have a community that goes alongside Véa. This includes a WhatsApp community and events.
“We turn the rituals inside Véa into in-person workshops at our events with our clinical board and with professionals in the space.
“We are not neuroscientists, but there are neuroscientists who have helped us build the app, and we make sure that AI is there to support you, but AI will never replace that human touch.
“That’s something that’s very close to us, and we want to make sure we connect people together and help people reflect in a safe space.
“As well as AI, there is the option to talk to the clinical board, to use their rituals, to reflect with the community, and go to our events.”
Katrina adds: “The key is that whatever the touch point is, whether it’s the app or it is an event or even our online community, we don’t want women to feel alone. We want them to feel together, grow together, and process together.”
People may often start journaling with good intentions, but struggle to stick with the practice. What have you learned about building habits and how those insights have shaped the experience of your product?
Zahra says: “I think everyone wants to gamify things – what helps us is the community aspect.
“We’ve created a tribe through the community, and because it’s so hyper personalised, you help shape the app, the app doesn’t shape you. You have full control, which makes people want to come back.
“Véa remembers what you said yesterday as well as six weeks ago, and she will surface that.
“We do have “streaks”, but our streaks are very gentle – every time you get a streak, you get a neuroscience fact along with it.
“Something else we have built in that helps retention is “breakthroughs”. When Véa detects a shift in language, and will highlight, for example, that you have shifted from overthinking to certainty.”
“I think people are sick of data, they’re sick of data that they can’t interpret from. Véa interprets for you.
“Soon we will evolve even more and add more features such as cycle tracking, wearable tracking and hormone tracking, to build out that ecosystem.”
What does success look like for Véa and how do you see the app and the community evolving as you move forward?
“We want to launch across so many different markets. Our next target is the US,” explains Katrina.
“We want to bring our events over there as well. We do a lot of corporate events too. We have one with NatWest coming up – we know that work stress is a big thing, especially amongst females.
“I think there’s a real space for that in the corporate world, so that’s one of our key focuses.”
Zahra adds: “Growing in markets and keeping going with our communities. We have just launched a supper club which sold out in three days in Manchester, which is absolutely amazing. We’re doing some in London and Amsterdam as well in the next few months. We are focused on growth, growing our board as well, and keeping the female mind at the center.”
What does it mean to win the Femtech World Award?
Katrina says: “When you are so passionate and truly believe in something, you do it for that reason, but that external validation of seeing that it also matters for others in the wider space means so much.
“Especially, in Femtech – it is a whole category that has been growing, but when it comes to funding and recognising women’s issues, there is still a lot of awareness that needs to be raised.
“Being recognised gives us that fuel to continue and drive forward, and that it really does matter.”
“We want to be at the forefront of women’s mental wellness as a whole, and have put many sleepless nights into developing the app, so it is a big testament to that,” adds Zahra.
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