Debate contribution: Women’s Health Strategy

Debate contribution by Mr Philip McGuigan on 16 March 2026.

MLA

Mr Philip McGuigan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

16 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Women’s Health Strategy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5449107

Read the official Assembly record

Text

As a man, I am acutely aware that I will never personally experience many of the health challenges that are faced by women. However, through repeated debates in the Chamber, it has become impossible to ignore the challenges and consistently poor outcomes that women face when trying to access healthcare in the North, whether that is in endometriosis care, perinatal mental health services or the persistent inability to meet red-flag breast cancer referral targets. We are all too aware of the cervical screening failures and the mesh scandals. While all of our waiting lists are unacceptably long, gynaecology waiting lists remain among the longest of any speciality, with over 52,000 women and girls waiting for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment. I recognise that many of the issues are not unique to here but, unlike the rest of Ireland and our neighbouring island, we still have no dedicated women's health strategy to address inequalities, despite years of assurances that one was being developed. Such a strategy is essential because women's health changes significantly across different ages and stages of life. Hormonal shifts influence reproductive health, perimenopause and menopause, each bringing distinct impacts on physical and mental well-being. Pregnancy, pregnancy loss and childbirth also have profound and long-lasting effects. Those realities underline the need for a coherent, lifelong approach to women's health that ensures that perinatal and postnatal maternity care, along with wider reproductive health, are properly supported and that services, research and resources are aligned in order to tackle long-standing inequalities in a consistent and accountable way. Statistically, we also know that, although women live longer than men, their healthy life expectancy is falling. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency's (NISRA) most recent figures show a decline of almost two years for women over the past five years. It should not require personal experience to appreciate the seriousness of the situation. It requires only empathy, fairness and a recognition that half of our population are not receiving the standard of care that they deserve. Heart disease, as others have mentioned, remains one of the leading causes of death among women, yet women's symptoms often present differently from men's and are frequently missed. The British Heart Foundation estimates that 26,000 women here are living with coronary heart disease, and its research shows that women face disadvantage at every stage of the cardiac pathway. Those inequalities are further compounded by ethnicity and socio-economic status. Women are disproportionately affected by chronic pain and autoimmune conditions, such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, which are too often dismissed or misdiagnosed.

Cancers such as ovarian cancer often present with vague symptoms, making early diagnosis difficult and highlighting the need for better awareness, research and screening innovation. The women's health action plan offers a real opportunity for the Minister and the Department to address those inequalities. The Minister has previously stated that the action plan, when published, will describe the wide range of policy and service development supporting women's health, what has been achieved to date and what is achievable in the years ahead with current resources. However, as demonstrated by the example of the mental health strategy, without sufficient funding, planned actions cannot move beyond good intentions. Women and girls deserve clarity, transparency and timelines. Women's health must be embedded across all services. This institution has statutory equality duties, including those under section 75. The Minister's own report last year highlighted the particular barriers faced by women and children in the immigration system when accessing healthcare. He has acknowledged the inequalities that exist between different groups of women. Addressing those disparities is a legal and moral obligation. Finally, I recognise that women too often carry most of the weight for advocating for their own health needs. They should not have to. Gender equality in healthcare is not a women's issue; it is everyone's issue. The Minister is not here, but he must provide reassurance that women's health, having been left behind for so long, will now be prioritised in his budget and in the wider transformation of our health service.

675 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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