Gynae Voices

A key aspect of FTWW’s mission is to support with the development of ‘Gynae Voices’ forums in all seven of Wales’s health boards.

‘Gynae Voices’ ensures that service users’ voices are at the heart of decision-making in gynaecology services in Wales.

It brings together patients, healthcare staff, and other stakeholders to plan, review and improve gynaecological care.

At a glance…

FTWW is working with Welsh Government and healthcare clinicians to ensure that the experiences of women, girls and those registered female at birth influence the development of gynaecological care.
Our goal is to develop ‘Gynae Voices’ forums that bring together patients, healthcare staff and other stakeholders in all health boards in Wales.
In North Wales, we’ve helped set up and run a Gynae Voices forum that has the support of senior management teams in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
Gynae Voices forums can lead to improvements in safety, quality, and experience of gynaecology care.

How did Gynae Voices start?

Gynae Voices is loosely based on the model already used in Maternity and Neonatal Services in England and Wales, to help healthcare providers and clinicians routinely hear from service-users and make sure that the care offered meets their needs.

In England and Wales, Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships exist, sometimes abbreviated to MNVP or ‘Maternity Voices’. Most NHS Trusts in England will have a MNVP, and the Welsh Government is supporting their development in every Health Board in Wales.

An MNVP listens to the experiences of women and families, and brings together service users, staff and other stakeholders to plan, review and improve maternity and neonatal care. MNVPs ensure that service users’ voices are at the heart of decision-making in maternity and neonatal services.

FTWW has supported the Welsh Government’s Maternity and Neonatal Policy Team to develop a Perinatal Engagement Framework which will provide guidance to health boards on how to set up and resource MNVPs, in recognition of their value in ensuring services are person-centred.

FTWW and the clinicians we work with in maternity and gynaecology recognise that some of the issues discussed in Maternity Voices forums and feedback crosses over into gynaecological care, for example, recurrent pregnancy loss (miscarriage), gynaecological conditions and treatment, perinatal mental health, and fertility challenges and services. We believe it is important that women’s voices are heard in these spaces as well as in maternity and neonatal care.

What is a Gynae Voices Forum?

A Gynae Voices Forum is a gynaecology-focused equivalent to a MNVP. It should be a safe and constructive space to bring together patients and healthcare professionals, so that patients can share their experiences and views, and work collaboratively to develop information and approaches to care which meet patients’ needs.

A Gynae Voices Forum can influence improvements in the safety, quality, and experience of gynaecology care.

It can help to make sure that health boards prioritise the right things in their provision of gynaecology services, and that information, training, and care offered has had input from patients so that it meets their needs. This can also help to improve efficiency and reduce waste.

In North Wales Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, FTWW has helped the Women’s Directorate set up and run a Gynae Voices Forum, which has been running since 2020. It is co-chaired by a healthcare professional working in the gynaecology specialty and a patient representative. FTWW helps to raise awareness of the forum by sharing information with North Wales patients in our online community and supporting them to attend and have their voices heard.

How does a Gynae Voices Forum run?

Gynae Voices Forums should have the support of senior management teams in health boards so that what is discussed is properly valued and influences decision-making.

In North Wales, the Gynae Voices Forum:

Meets regularly, once a quarter, online (over Teams)
Has an agreed agenda, action log, and minutes
Continues engagement outside of quarterly meetings, for example, when developing patient information or a business case
Is represented at monthly Women’s Directorate Board meetings
Produces bi-monthly reports to the Board
Has a logo, contact email address, and information on the health board’s website

Key achievements

Gynae Voices has been cited as a model of good practice in the Royal College of Obstetricians’ 2022 Workforce Report (page 64) and in Public Health Wales’s July 2024 e-bulletin.

In North Wales, some of the Forums key achievements have been:

Contributing to the development of a successful business case for a specialist menopause clinic
Contributing to the development of fertility pathways and information
Contributing to the development of an endometriosis pathway for patients with suspected, confirmed, and complex disease
Coproducing a discharge information sheet for patients undergoing day-case gynaecological surgery to help them understand better what was done, found, and next steps
Collaborating on an audit of outpatient hysteroscopy services.

If you are a gynaecology patient or service-user in North Wales and would be interested in hearing more or joining BCUHB’s Gynae Voices forum, you can contact the BCUHB team here

Gynae Voices in your area

FTWW is already having conversations with other health boards in Wales to see how a Gynae Voices Forum similar to that in North Wales might be set up.

If you’re a gynaecology patient, a healthcare professional working in this specialty, or a service manager in a Welsh health board and are interested in hearing more about Gynae Voices in your area, please get in touch.

Gynae Voices news

Breaking the Silence on Gynaecological Cancers – and Beyond!

FTWW Statement on Senedd Health & Social Care Committee Inquiry into Gynaecological Cancers & Plenary debate (15/05/24) Breaking the Silence on Gynaecological Cancers - and Beyond! Having contributed extensively to the recent inquiry into gynaecological...

Want to know more?

If you are a healthcare professional or patient and would like to assist FTWW in delivering on its mission to support the development of a Gynae Voices Forum in your Health Board, please get in touch.