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Autumn Budget 2024: UK Misses Key Opportunities to Invest in Women’s Health and Femtech

The UK’s Autumn Budget 2024, presented by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, on 30th October arrived with ambitious funding boosts to tackle healthcare challenges and economic recovery. However, for women’s health and wellbeing, many essential needs remain overlooked. 

 

Although the budget increases general NHS funding by £22.6 billion - a significant allocation aimed at cutting wait times and enhancing patient care - this broader investment lacks the targeted support required to address conditions and healthcare disparities that disproportionately affect women, including menopause, endometriosis, and reproductive health issues​

 

Despite calls from healthcare advocates, the budget also omits investment in femtech, a rapidly evolving sector with the potential to transform healthcare access and options for women through innovative technologies. 

 

Mental health services will see a rise in funding, but without specific gender-sensitive programmes, this may do little to address the distinct mental health challenges often experienced by women. As the government moves forward, this budget has sparked a pressing conversation on how to better support and prioritise women’s health in future policy decisions.

 

Here are the top-line takeaways on women’s health:

1. General Healthcare Funding and the NHS: The budget commits an additional £22.6 billion to the NHS, a considerable boost intended to help reduce waiting lists and improve access to essential services. This increase focuses on broad patient care needs rather than addressing women-specific healthcare issues, and may leave some areas of critical women’s health—such as menopause support, endometriosis care, and reproductive health—without targeted resources. While these funds could help alleviate general healthcare strains, the lack of directed investment toward women’s health risks continuing a gap in specialised care for female health needs​

 

2. Women’s Health Strategy Support: This budget did not appear to directly bolster the Women’s Health Strategy, which is the government’s initiative to address disparities in women’s health outcomes across England. Although general funding may indirectly support some of its objectives, there are no explicit allocations for advancing the strategy’s goals of improving access to reproductive healthcare, menopause support, or conditions like PCOS, which disproportionately affect women. Without specific allocations, many of these objectives will likely rely on existing strained resources​

 

3. The Absence of Femtech and Digital Health Funding: Despite the rapidly growing femtech sector, the budget made no mention of dedicated funding or incentives for digital health innovations specifically aimed at women’s health. Femtech, covering everything from menstrual health apps to reproductive health technologies, has proven potential to provide more accessible and personalised healthcare for women. Government support in this sector could accelerate innovations that empower women to manage their health proactively, reducing the strain on traditional healthcare services. By overlooking femtech, the government may be missing an opportunity to invest in accessible and scalable solutions that could help close the gender gap in healthcare​

 

4. Mental Health Funding: The budget did include increased funding for mental health services as part of the NHS’s broader funding. Mental health is an area where women are disproportionately impacted, often experiencing higher rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD linked to hormonal changes, reproductive health, and caregiving roles. However, without a focus on gender-sensitive approaches to mental health, this funding may not address specific needs related to female mental health. A tailored approach, such as funding for specialised mental health support around postpartum depression and menopause, would likely be more impactful for women​


5. Increased taxes: The increase in Capital Gains Tax rates - from 10% to 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 20% to 24% for higher earners - could create barriers for early-stage start-ups developing solutions and innovations from the female body – both in operating costs and growth, as well as in seeking investment. Entrepreneurs working in women’s health may find it harder to attract and retain funding, as higher taxes on returns may deter investors. This tax burden, combined with the lack of government grants or targeted investment in femtech, risks stifling growth in a sector that could significantly advance women’s healthcare through technology​

 

A Budget That Supports, But Falls Short for Women’s Health

While this budget makes strides in bolstering the NHS, it falls short on directly addressing women’s health. Essential areas like reproductive health, menopause care, and support for women-specific health conditions continue to lack dedicated funding. 

 

The absence of femtech support and targeted mental health resources reflects a broader oversight of gender-specific health challenges. To truly support women’s health, future budgets should consider direct funding for these crucial areas to close the gap in healthcare equity.

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