Evidence Hub

Evaluation of Sunderland’s Women’s Health Hub evidences value for money

Quick read summary

Women across England can face challenges accessing healthcare services for conditions such as menopause, heavy menstrual bleeding, or to access contraception.

Long waiting times, fragmented services, and difficulty getting appointments can mean women experience symptoms for longer, impacting their quality of life, work, and wellbeing. The Department of Health and Social Care has promoted Women’s Health Hubs to bring services together in one place, making it easier for women to access the care they need.

It is important to understand whether investing in Women’s Health Hubs delivers value for money for the NHS and benefits for women.

This study aimed to understand the costs and benefits of Sunderland’s Women’s Health Hub at Pallion Health Centre and assess whether it represents good value for money.

The analysis found that for every £1 invested, the hub generates £8 in benefits over 10 years.

This includes benefits related to reduced workplace absences and secondary care cost savings as well as improved quality of life. This suggests the Sunderland Women’s Health Hub provides good value for money, with potential benefits outweighing the costs of running the service.

Who is the evidence useful for?

This research is useful for policymakers, commissioners, healthcare professionals and anyone interested in integrated models of women’s healthcare services.

Research summary

Researchers conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the Sunderland Women’s Health Hub over a 10-year period. They calculated the costs of setting-up and running the hub, including staff, training, and equipment. They then estimated the value of benefits from three key services:

• Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC)
• Menopause advice and treatment
• Cervical screening

They used local data from the hub alongside national evidence to understand both costs and benefits, following the approach used by the Department of Health and Social Care in their national analysis.

Key findings

Return on investment

The Sunderland Women’s Health Hub represents good value for money. For every £1 invested, the hub generates £8 in benefits over 10 years. This compares with the Department of Health and Social Care’s national estimate of £5 of benefits for every £1 invested.

Costs

The hub requires £98,000 in upfront costs to establish (training, equipment, project management) and £473,000 annually to run (primarily staff and equipment). Over 10 years, the total investment is £4.5 million.

Benefits

The hub generates £37.6 million in benefits over 10 years. The main benefits include:

Quality of life improvements: reduced waiting times and improved access to menopause and heavy menstrual bleeding treatment. Women can access care sooner, reducing the time they experience symptoms.

Prevention of unwanted pregnancies: increased provision of long-acting reversible contraceptives, reducing costs to the NHS and society.

Reduced workplace absences: better management of menopause symptoms, helping women stay in work.

Secondary care cost savings: providing LARC services in the community rather than in hospitals.

Earlier cervical cancer detection: improved access to screening leading to earlier diagnosis and less costly treatment.

How reliable are these findings?

Even when researchers tested worst-case assumptions, the hub still delivered good value for money with a benefit-cost ratio of 4:1.

The findings are consistent with national estimates, though the Sunderland hub performs better than the national estimate due to shorter waiting times and serving a larger population.

Other important findings

The Hub also provided a range of other benefits

• Improved experience of care for women
• Better emotional wellbeing
• Improved staff training and morale
• Opportunity to provide additional support (such as welfare advice or domestic abuse support)
• Reduced pressure on GP appointments for repeat prescriptions

The Sunderland hub is also expanding services, including ultrasound scans, which will provide additional benefits in the future.

What next?

This analysis provides evidence that the Sunderland Women’s Health Hub delivers value for money. Future research could use individual patient data to explore additional benefits and longer-term impacts as the hub expands its services.

This project is part of a wider programme of research to explore equitable health and care services for women living in Sunderland. Other work packages of this project are ongoing and explore patient experiences of the hub as well as understanding current barriers and enablers of access for women facing multiple forms of disadvantage.

Find out more

For more information about this work package please contact Miranda Trevor [email protected]

For more information about our wider evaluation of the Women’s Health Hub in Sunderland please contact Principal Investigator, Dr Angela Wearn [email protected]

You can download a research briefing, below

Acknowledgements

This work is a collaboration between NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria, Newcastle University, University of Sunderland and Northumbria University.

Funding for this project was provided by North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board and Sunderland City Council.