October is Menopause Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month – two reminders that women’s health is not a niche concern, but something that touches millions of families across Scotland. Yet again and again, women’s healthcare is treated as expendable: services are downgraded, diagnoses delayed and access to treatment left to chance.

Take University Hospital Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. The SNP government plans to downgrade its award-winning neonatal care unit, meaning babies born before 27 weeks will have to be transferred to a specialist centre in Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Glasgow. Doorknocking during the Hamilton by-election this spring, I heard the same outrage and concern from families over and over – not just because the unit was being cut, but because something so vital could be treated as expendable. Davy Russell’s victory showed how strongly voters felt. 

Wishaw is not unique. Across Scotland, women’s health services – from reproductive health to menopause to postnatal care – are too often reduced to a budget line on a spreadsheet. 

In Caithness and Sutherland, maternity downgrades have seen some 90% of pregnant women go through a 100-mile trip to Inverness to give birth. Endometriosis affects one in ten women, yet there are only three BSGE-accredited NHS clinics in Scotland, while diagnosis times average almost nine years. Even access to treatments like dienogest, which can relieve endo’s painful symptoms, depends on local health board policies, leaving some women suffering.

These gaps aren’t just unfair; they’re costly. It’s estimated that around £11bn a year is lost to the UK economy due to women taking time off work with the likes of heavy periods, endometriosis, fibroids and ovarian cysts. According to NHS Confederation, menopause-related unemployment has a direct economic impact of £1.5bn a year.

But the human cost is far greater. As the co-founder of the Pausitivity #KnowYourMenopause campaign and a former Labour & Coop councillor, I have heard from countless women let down by the system through delayed diagnoses (my own menopause took four years to be recognised), misinformation, or a lack of support. Some women have had to leave work, others have suffered through avoidable pain or reached crisis point. This has a knock-on effect to the next generation in the loss of role models and valued experience in the workplace.

Labour has always been strongest when we stand for dignity, fairness and justice. Women’s health embodies all three. That’s why I believe that to lead Scotland in 2026, we must put women’s health at the heart of our campaign. 

That means:

• Protecting essential local services;

• Reducing diagnosis times for reproductive-related conditions;

• Making menopause and menstrual-health training mandatory for every GP;

• Investing in preventative, community-led care, especially in rural and underserved areas,

• and finally, closing the gender health inequalities with policies that truly serve women.

This isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s politically smart. Women make up the majority of NHS staff, unpaid carers and health decision-makers in families. And as polls show, they’re more likely to be undecided voters, watching to see which party truly hears them.

This October, Labour must show it’s us with a clear and unwavering commitment to women’s health. Because when we fix women’s healthcare, we’re not just helping women; we’re supporting families, easing pressure on the NHS and strengthening our economy.

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By Elizabeth Ellis