{"id":238351,"date":"2025-10-24T20:19:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T20:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/238351\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T20:19:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T20:19:06","slug":"menopause-added-to-nhs-health-checks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/238351\/","title":{"rendered":"Menopause Added to NHS Health Checks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Menopause<\/a> advice is to become a routine part of NHS health checks for the first time, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced.<\/p>\n

NHS health checks currently aim to identify cardiovascular disease, stroke<\/a>, kidney disease, type 2 diabetes<\/a>, and dementia. It is hoped that making menopause a part of these health checks and raising awareness of its symptoms will reduce stigma and give women confidence to seek help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Described as a \u201clandmark step forward,\u201d the move marked a \u201cmajor shift\u201d in women\u2019s healthcare, the DHSC said, with nearly 5 million women set to benefit.<\/p>\n

Questions asked in the health checks will be developed over the coming months, with women routinely asked about the menopause from next year.<\/p>\n

Lack of Knowledge<\/p>\n

Three quarters of women experience menopause symptoms. These can last an average of 7 years and significantly impact daily life. However, fewer than 1 in 10 women feel they have enough information to deal with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is inevitable that every girl and woman who has menstrual periods will become menopausal, explained women\u2019s health ambassador, Dame Lesley Regan.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome 400,000 women in the UK will become menopausal this year,\u201d she underlined, \u201cbut the vast majority of them will have very little knowledge of what underlies the many and varied symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Women are often left to navigate menopause alone with very little support, emphasised Wes Streeting, Health and Social Care Secretary, \u201call because of an outdated health system that fails to acknowledge how serious it can be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Sue Mann, NHS England national clinical director in women\u2019s health, said, \u201cFar too often we still hear women say their concerns aren\u2019t listened to or that they aren\u2019t getting enough support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Break Down Barriers<\/p>\n

Routinely screening for menopause should empower clinicians to proactively address concerns that have often gone unrecognised, ensuring women feel heard and supported during what could be a challenging transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be a further opportunity for healthcare professionals to provide timely, evidence-based information, guiding women towards maintaining good health during the menopause transition and beyond,\u201d said Professor Janice Rymer, chair of the British Menopause Society.<\/p>\n

Professor Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, added that creating space for women to get information about menopause symptoms, support, and treatments will break down barriers, reduce stigma, and help many women live more happily and healthily in middle age.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get it right for women, everyone benefits,\u201d Regan said.<\/p>\n

Rob Hicks is a retired NHS doctor. A well-known TV and radio broadcaster, he has written several books and has regularly contributed to national newspapers, magazines, and online publications. He is based in the United Kingdom.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Menopause advice is to become a routine part of NHS health checks for the first time, the Department…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,142645,500,27822,12959,3285,8723,8724,123769,5429,12956,12958,12744,3586,12957,142644],"class_list":["post-238351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-health-education-health-counseling-patient-education-health-education-and-counselling-health-education-health-counselling","tag-healthcare","tag-menopause-menopausal-syndrome","tag-national-health-service","tag-nhs","tag-preventive-screening","tag-screening","tag-stigma","tag-uk","tag-uk-national-health-service","tag-uk-nhs","tag-uk-site-content-united-kingdom-site-content","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-kingdom-national-health-service","tag-womens-health-womens-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}