Help shape the future of Women’s and Girls' Health in South East London

Women’s and Girls’ Health Hubs

Our efforts to improve health services for women and girls in south east London have progressed with the development of Women’s and Girls’ Health Hubs to better support local communities.

The first two women’s and girls’ health hub launched in Lambeth, Greenwich and Bexley in spring 2025. The hubs bring together doctors, nurses and other specialists to provide a one stop shop for a range of conditions and are supported by outreach through voluntary sector partners.

These hubs focus on key women’s health services, including menstrual care, menopause support, pre-conception care, and awareness of breast and cervical cancer. They aim to improve access to services through community engagement, local community champions, in-person clinics, and virtual support.

In Greenwich and Bexley the hub offers to girls and women the option to self-refer to services for menopause support, heavy menstrual bleeding, contraception, pre-conception advice, and more — all through a virtual hub. The hub also accepts referrals from GPs and other healthcare professionals. Self referrals can be completed by visiting the hub webpage. The main clinic is located at Market Street Health Centre in Woolwich, however, people may be offered an appointment at another clinic location.

In Lambeth the hub sees women and girls over 13 who have been referred by their GP or by our community outreach team, for support with heavy menstrual bleeding, menopause, contraception and pre-conception. Referrals are reviewed by a team of healthcare professionals including gynaecology and sexual health specialists and GPs who work in Women’s Health. Patients who need to be seen by our clinical team are invited for an appointment at Minnie Kidd House in Clapham south.

Supporting this work, SEL developed a multilingual toolkit (10+ languages), training programme and a Women’s Health Network. An evaluation framework with King’s Health Partners is guiding improvement.

By creating these hubs, we have taken an important step towards ensuring that all women, including those who identify as women and girls, have equitable access to the care and support they need.

Read more details about the hubs and how to access on our website.

Impact

An independent evaluation after the first year—looking at access, equity, outcomes and value for money—highlighted:

• A strong demand for heavy menstrual bleeding and menopause support, with many patients managed effectively in community settings.
• Hubs are addressing multiple concerns in one appointment and wait times for in-person appointments substantially less than current acute gynaecology services. early triage and GP advice are also helping reduce unnecessary referrals to hospital care.
• Demographic data from the hubs suggests broad population level representation across different ethnicity groups and from deprived neighbourhoods. Targeted work with Women’s Health Ambassadors and voluntary sector partners to engage groups facing inequalities have been well received. Self-referral options, translated materials, and clearer, trusted online information have made services more accessible and culturally appropriate.
• The hubs have made it easier for women and girls to access care, while improving experiences for both patients and staff. Most people are assessed within one week and seen within four weeks, compared with typical waits of 15–16 weeks for hospital gynaecology services.
• The multidisciplinary team approach has strengthened joined-up working across services and delivers care at a lower cost than hospital outpatient clinics.
• Early indications show hubs are delivering more cost-effective provision than hospital-based services.

A health hub service user said:

“I self-referred to the Women's and Girls' health Hub and had an EXCELLENT experience in booking, fast appointment, lots of time to ask my questions in the appointment… if this is how women experience care then know it's making a difference!”

Next steps

The pilot hubs are entering year two, focusing on expanding coverage, improving access, and increasing targeted community outreach with more direct referral routes. Priorities also include strengthening digital access and trusted online information, further integrating services across care pathways, and developing workforce skills through the South East London education programme. Alongside this, new Women’s and Girls’ Health equity partnership projects are driving innovation and widening impact through health inequalities funding

How we listened to you

In 2024 we worked in partnership with public health, provider and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) partners to ensure we actively engaged with women and girls across diverse communities in south east London through a variety of channels to shape and inform the development of our hub model. We wanted to understand more about the health needs and barriers of local women and girls to help us close the gap on unfair and avoidable differences in health access, experience and outcomes.

We invited local women and girls' views through an online survey and conversation forum. We received 1,434 responses, and we would like to thank everyone who participated and contributed to our survey and forum conversations.

We also attended several face-to-face community events to complement the insight collated via the online survey and conversation forum. These sessions allowed us to hear from over 250 local women and girls. We focused on listening to young people (16-25) and communities facing barriers to care and experiencing health inequalities, such as South Asian, Black African, Black Caribbean, and Latin American.

We also put on two focus groups in November 2024 with residents to explore issues in more depth and to test proposed solutions. You can see the focus groups conversation presentation here. These discussions showed a strong need for more accessible and personalised care.

Key insight gained from the survey and outreach and recommendations

• There is a strong demand for a full range of sexual and reproductive health services and clear pathways
• Women and girls would welcome an offer of a comprehensive ‘MOT’ check-up
• More integration of point-of-care testing for quick diagnostics and signposting is needed
• Services should focus on those who need them most, guided by data and feedback
• A virtual hub triage function could better direct patients to appropriate services
• Care navigation support (virtual or in-person) to help residents navigate complex health and care pathways
• Extended hours and community-based services to increase engagement
• Focus on building trust and relationships within communities
• Culturally sensitive services and outreach
• Translation and accessible knowledge for specific groups and communities is critical
• Emphasis on digital accessibility for health information and education
• Recognition of the need for both digital and face-to-face options
• Engaging with young people and improving health literacy and education on specific topics can be done, but the channels we currently use may not be the most effective
• Collaboration with schools and youth-based organisations is important for engagement
  
  

Focus groups key recommendations

• Improve the NHS App for easier access to health information
• Address cultural barriers in healthcare services
• Ensure healthcare planning meets the needs of diverse communities
• Increase community outreach and engagement, especially for underrepresented groups

We also carried out a Health Needs Assessment and used insight from this alongside the feedback and views we gained through listening to local people and communities. The needs assessment identified four focus areas: long-acting contraception, heavy menstrual bleeding, menopause and preconception care, with clear need for tailored approaches to reduce inequalities.

Background

We wanted to change how women's and girls' health is delivered in our communities so that it meets the needs of those who need it most.

As part of a national Women’s Health Strategy*, there has been a commitment to developing ‘women's health hubs’. Women's health hubs aim to:

• join up health and care services in the community
• help more women to have access to information in an easy-to-understand and culturally appropriate way to make decisions about their health and well-being
• support women with 'related health issues' to be seen in the right setting, by the right professional, at the right time.

*While the Women's Health Strategy refers to women, some people who do not identify as women will also require access to and may benefit from care in women’s health hubs. These groups will also have specific needs and experiences which will be considered.

You can find out more about the National Women’s Health Strategy here.

Read more about why this is an important piece of work, the national context, and the services required to be in the hub.