This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast marks one year since the UK Government published the Women's Health Strategy for England, and discussing what progress has been made with the Strategy to date. The discussion is chaired by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET), with contributions from: ⚫ Professor Geeta Nargund (Co-Founder and Medical Adviser at Ginsburg Women's Health Board) ⚫ Nickie Aiken (Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster) ⚫ Isaac Barnswell (Research and Policy Officer at Stonewall) ⚫ Laura-Rose Thorogood (Founder of LGBT Mummies) ⚫ Dr Raj Mathur (Chair of the British Fertility Society) In July 2022, the UK Government published the first ever Women's Health Strategy for England. The section of the Strategy that deals with fertility and pregnancy includes Government commitments to: ⚫ 'Work with NHS England to review and address the current geographical variation in access to NHS-funded fertility services across England to ensure all NHS fertility services are commissioned in a clinically justifiable way.' ⚫ 'Explore mechanisms to publish data nationally on provision and availability of IVF' and 'improve information provision regarding fertility over the next two years'. ⚫ 'Remove non-clinical access criteria to fertility treatment, such as one partner having a child from a previous relationship, to create more equality in access to fertility services.' ⚫ Ensure that when it comes to same-sex couples, 'there is no requirement for self-funding and the NHS treatment pathway for female same-sex couples will start with six cycles of artificial insemination, prior to accessing IVF services if necessary'. The Government Minister responsible for the Women's Health Strategy, Maria Caulfield, said in the House of Commons in January 2023 that the Government's 'eight priorities for this year' in relation to the Strategy include 'improving and standardising access to in vitro fertilisation for same-sex couples around the country'. In July 2023, the same Minister reaffirmed the Government's commitments, saying: 'We will improve access to IVF by removing the additional financial burden on female same-sex couples accessing treatment. We will be working with NHS England to assess fertility provision across ICBs, with a view to removing non-clinical access criteria. We will also work with stakeholders to improve information provision on fertility and fertility treatments, including on the NHS website, and introduce greater transparency of the local provision of IVF.' This discussion asks what progress has been made with the Strategy, and what can be done to ensure that the Government honours its commitments. PET is grateful to the British Fertility Society and Merck for supporting this discussion. PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast. Register at a href="https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/"...