Advancing women’s health through lived experience and collaboration

As Phase 2 is launched, Dr. Irene Oldfather shares her reflections on how the ALLIANCE has contributed to the Women's Health Plan.

As we mark 20 years of the ALLIANCE, it feels like the right moment to reflect on some of the key milestones of our journey. Looking ahead to Phase 2 of the Women’s Health Plan, I think about the role we have played in advancing women’s health and tackling long-standing inequalities.

Back in February 2020, I joined stakeholders from across Scotland – spanning diverse sectors, themes and communities – at St. Andrew’s House to begin discussions on a truly pioneering initiative; the first dedicated Women’s Health Plan for Scotland, the ‘first of it’s kind’. This Plan would seek to address deep rooted inequalities in diagnosis, treatment and awareness of areas that were specific to female experience.

51% of Scotland’s population are women and many areas identified within the Women’s Health Plan 2021-2024 were universal health experiences for women, such as periods and menopause. Yet despite this, barriers to accessing services, persistent misinformation and enduring stigma were still pervasive and continued to shape women’s health journeys in profoundly negative ways.  

We’ve come a long way since that first meeting in 2020. With Phase 2 of the Women’s Health Plan launched on 20 January 2025, there is much to recognise; the appointment of a Women’s Health Champion, Women’s Health Leads in every NHS board across Scotland,  a dedicated platform for Women’s Health on NHS inform, a lived experience group led by the ALLIANCE, and a health research fund focused specifically on women’s health.

At the ALLIANCE, we are proud to have contributed to these achievements, through centring the lived experiences of women, raising awareness, and by promoting a more positive culture around women’s health experiences.

Myth busting has been a central theme in this work. Despite the growing prevalence of open discussion on women’s health, in the media, in the workplace, and in families, many of us still feel disconnected from reliable information about our own bodies. Whether it’s shining a light on common but misunderstood conditions like PCOS or debunking misconceptions in narratives around women’s heart health, we’ve focused on empowering women with the correct information to seek the support that they need; support that, thanks to progress in the Women’s Health Plan, is becoming more gender-sensitive and more accessible.

However, there is still significant progress to be more. We look forward to working closely with our Lived Experience group to build on the platform and ideas that has been set out for refreshing Phase 2.  I was particularly pleased to see a stronger emphasis on improving understanding of brain health. Alongside this, the ambition to eliminate cervical cancer is both bold and essential, as well the renewed focus on bone and heart health.

As Phase 2 of the Women’s Health Plan refreshes and looks into the future, the ALLIANCE welcomes the opportunity to continuing to collaborate to improve health outcomes for Scotland’s women and girls.

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