David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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158. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he will take to improve menopause supports for women; if he will put in place a women’s health structured care programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7845/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Improving women’s health outcomes is a key priority for me and this Government. We have made a strong commitment to Promoting Women’s Health in the Programme for Government and are fully committed to the development and improvement of Women’s Health services and to working with women and girls to improve their health across the whole life cycle.

Significant activity is currently underway to enhance the supports available to women through the menopause. I announced my commitment to establish dedicated specialist menopause clinics across Ireland on the 10th of September 2021. These clinics will form a core part of a new approach to menopause care for women in Ireland and will be supported by enhanced community and primary care supports as well as the publication of targeted and trusted sources of information for women experiencing menopause.

The first specialist menopause clinic opened in the National Maternity Hospital in December 2021. Building on this development, Budget 2022 provided further commitment to a focussed approach in menopause care with funding for three further specialist menopause clinics, to bring the number of clinics nationally to four. Once in place, specialist menopause clinics will be provided in Dublin, Limerick, Galway and Cork working to complement the menopause support available to women in their community.

Additional activity underway and planned in the area of menopause includes:

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- GP training is a key aspect of women receiving the best care through menopause. The Irish College of GPs are active members of the Women's Health Taskforce and continue to be engaged on how women's health can be better considered within the primary care setting. Relevant activity includes the collaboration between ICGP and the British Menopause Society to develop training in menopause management, which is currently in place; a ICGP Women’s Health Webinar on menopause and endometriosis which was held in June 2021 and had 1567 attendees; and a GP Education course which was established in September 2021 in the area of Community Gynaecology Course which includes menopause as a topic. Funding has been provided through the Women's Health Fund to develop a 'quick reference guide' for GPs on the menopause, to support primary care provision in this area.

Of particular relevance to the Deputy's query on a women’s health structured care programme, I have outlined my support for a new ICGP post of Clinical Lead for Women’s Health in General Practice, the first such post in Ireland. This is currently being progressed and once in place, the Clinical Lead will provide the essential leadership to drive forward an ambitious agenda to enable a comprehensive life-course approach to women’s health in general practice.

Further activity in the area of menopause includes:‎‎

‎‎ - A number of health topics relating to women's health, including menopause, have recently been updated and are now live on the HSE A-Z. This information is an important first step towards delivering enhanced information and education on menopause. A public information webinar on the menopause was held on November 29th 2021.

- A civil service webinar on 'Menopause at work' was held on October 18th, and further HR training to better understand the challenges and solutions for supporting women in their menopause journey within the civil service was held on November 30th. The Healthy Workplace Framework, published in December 2021, aims to support the growth of effective approaches to enhance health and wellbeing in the workplace. The Framework is underpinned by robust evidence and consultation. An Implementation Group is in the process of being established, which will hold responsibility for developing an action plan. It is envisaged that a representative from Women’s Health will be included on the Implementation Group to help ensure the needs of women in the workplace are incorporated.

At present, GPs provide consultations without charge to women who have a medical card or GP visit card. Approved prescribed drugs and medicines, including HRT, are available free to medical card holders, subject to the statutory prescription charge. In addition, under the Drug Payment Scheme (DPS), no individual or family pays more than €100 a month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines.

Further research is required to understand the cost and benefit of such a development. This will be considered when planning for further menopause activity to take place in 2022.

The issue of menopause in particular has also been emphasised through the nationwide “Radical Listening” exercise carried out by the Women’s Health Taskforce. This exercise enabled women across the country to share their views and experiences of the health sector and health services. This was a large-scale consultation process intended to maximise the participation of women across all life stages from 18 years upwards, including minority and disadvantaged women. 278 women participated in open interviews and workshops, where menopause was a recurring theme. Through this process, the taboo around discussing menopause, and a lack of trusted information, were consistently raised as key issues for women experiencing menopause. I published a report on the findings of the ‘Radical listening’ exercise on September 14th 2021 which can be found here:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/ebe3e-significant-milestone-as-minister-donnelly-publishes-a-report-of-womens-voices-on-womens-health-following-a-radical-listening-exercise-this-year/