The Health Equality Foundation invited PET director Sarah Norcross to its International Women's Day event. The foundation's founder Baroness Nargund hosted the event in the House of Lords.
The room was packed for the launch of the Health Equality Foundation's report 'Unheard, Unequal, Unsafe: Women’s Voices in Crisis'.
Some key findings from the report:
- 53% of women say their symptoms have been dismissed (vs. 33% of men)
- 24% of women have reduced work or left jobs due to childcare (vs. 9% of men)
- 44% of women have avoided places due to feeling unsafe (rising to 69% among women aged 18–24)
Speaking to the report's findings alongside Baroness Nargund were Baroness Merron, Natalie Fleet MP, and Beatrice Devillon-Cohen.
Baroness Merron the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women's Health and Mental Health gave an empassioned speech about the Government's plans to improve women's health. The Women’s Health Strategy refresh will play an integral part in this. The minister also said that the establishment of women's health hubs will be vital in reducing gynaecological waiting lists. Disappointlingly, she did not mention any government plans to improve access to fertility treatment.
Sarah was delighted when Baroness Nargund mentioned the important work of PET not just once, but three times in her speech. In the Q&A, Sarah told the audience how Baroness Nargund had recently participated in a PET event 'Ancestry, Ethnicity, IVF Outcomes: Why Do Some Patients Fare Better than Others?' which highlighted many health inequalities. The Baroness said that she was looking forward to continuing to work on this topic with PET.
Following the speeches there were canapes to be enjoyed and an opportunity to network with people from across the healthcare sector, alongside individuals representing women’s charities and organisations. Among these was PET trustee Peter Taylor.
Thank you to Baroness Nargund and the Health Equality Foundation for the invitation to the event.