Speeches by Brewer.

“You touched a little on what needs to happen next, but are there any areas where you are disappointed in terms of progress or where there could have been more removal of barriers, for instance?”

“I wanted to talk very quickly about the women’s health hubs that we have mentioned a little, so I am going to cut straight to the chase. Is there a risk that Government reforms, around scrapping NHS England and so on, are going to threaten the sustainability of women’s health hubs?”

“Sue, you are the first ever NHS national clinical director for women’s health. Can you talk a little about the benefits the role has brought to girls and young women’s menstrual and gynaecological health?”

“Briefly, Lesley, what has been your proudest achievement as women’s health ambassador in relation to better supporting girls’ and women’s menstrual and gynaecological health?”

“It is really lovely to see you all here today, and thank you for coming in. I will address this to all of you, so if you can keep answers fairly succinct, if possible, that would be great—as Sarah says, we have quite a lot to get through. What advice or support can your organisations offer the Government as it looks to…”

“Have the Government sought your advice on teaching this part of the curriculum? Kate Lancaster indicated assent. Ruth Bailey indicated assent. Dr Porter indicated assent.”

“Thank you; I think we will come on to that in a minute. To clarify, you mentioned earlier that there has been a 27% reduction in school nursing staff. Is that affecting the ability to deliver this particular area?”

“Ruth, what role can school and sexual health nurses play in identifying and referring girls who need menstrual health care?”

“I am pleased that the Government have listened to my calls, and to those of other Liberal Democrats, to mention the explicit protection of chalk stream rivers in the statement. The Minister mentions the consistent application of policy. Will he confirm whether those policies might include, for example, exclusion zones …”

“The hon. Gentleman talks effusively about the benefits of our biggest trading partner, Europe, and the disaster of Brexit. Does he agree with me that we should be forging a new customs union as soon as possible?”

“10. What steps he is taking to improve relations with the EU.”

“Given that Brexit has left a £90 billion hole in the UK’s tax revenues and that small business owners in my constituency of North East Hampshire are telling me that the last two Budgets have been “catastrophic” for them, why are the Government not pursuing a bespoke UK-EU customs union to cut red tape, boost economic g…”

“This is absolutely fascinating. In the interest of time, I am just going to ask different questions to one person only. To start, Nighat, can I just ask you, do you think that girls and young women using period trackers—as a group we have mentioned period trackers already—have enough information to effectively choose o…”

“To follow on from that, would you share concerns that the femtech sector is not drawing sufficiently on racially diverse data? Does that then have an impact on exacerbating health inequalities, for instance?”

“That is really interesting. Thank you. Sometimes the old-fashioned analogue way is the best way to go. Tori, I wonder if I can come to you at this point and ask about the potential for young people using femtech trackers as contraception and that then potentially leading to unwanted pregnancies. Is that something that …”

“That is interesting. Tori, if I could just come back to you for my last question briefly. What do you think the role of the NHS and/or Government should be in the femtech space so that we can start ensuring efficacy, data privacy and this inclusive approach, this health equity approach?”

“This is very interesting. Katharine, we are seeing widespread support for the women’s health hub model as a local one-stop shop for female health, but what services should be included in the hubs and how could they be delivered most effectively?”

“I am interested in exploring suitability of service a little more. It seems that in more rural areas, perhaps, where you do not have a big conurbation, there is a real risk that there is less financial incentive to put in a hub and so on. Particularly for younger women and girls who maybe cannot drive, that might be a …”

“Is there a risk that focusing on women’s health hubs means that that the primary care side might fall short?”

“Nandi, the Race and Health Observatory has said that in implementing hubs, consideration has to be given to how race plays a role in shaping reproductive health outcomes, and you have talked about that a little already. What might that look like in terms of delivering the hub services?”