To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's Women's Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022, when he plans to publish the implementation framework for the delivery plan; whether the framework will include timeframes for (a) intrauterine insemination and (b) IVF treatment for people in same-sex relationships; and if she will make a statement.
Answered on
11 May 2023
We do not plan to publish an implementation framework for a delivery plan for the Women’s Health Strategy. I wrote to MPs on 24 January 2023 setting out our priorities for the first year of implementing the 10-year Women’s Health Strategy. In this, we committed to update Parliament annually on progress, with the first update due in September 2023. In addition, the strategy committed the Government to publish a report on progress in delivering our commitments and the outcomes achieved in three years.
In regards to intrauterine insemination and IVF treatment for people in same-sex relationships, the Women’s Health Strategy contained a number of important changes and future ambitions to improve access to IVF for female same sex couples, which included removing the additional financial burden they face when accessing treatment. We expect this to take effect during 2023.