Kildare Senator Fiona O’Loughlin has spoken on further funding provided by the Government for Women’s Health Services. This funding falls within The Women’s Health Action Plan.
Senator O’Loughlin said, “As chair of the Women’s Caucus I have been pushing for access to services like menopause services, lactation consultants, better postnatal care and better supports for marginalised women for many years now. This funding will provide improvements to all of these areas, and will no doubt benefit a lot of women across Ireland.”
“Budget 2022 has a definitive focus on women’s health with €31 million being allocated to support womens health initiatives. This is something I have been pushing for a number of years now. I am pleased to see €2.5m funding for priority areas within the Women’s Health Action Plan. Thanks to this funding 2 extra specialist Menopause Clinics will be created, meaning there are 6 clinics across Ireland with the facilities to provide complex care to patients who need it. It will also assist in developing a more holistic model for supporting women after they give birth, along with creating 2 more community-based Postnatal Hubs.”
“This investment will also create more supports at a hospital level, by investing in resources for 6 teams to support holistic treatment of endometriosis within each of the hospital networks. I am pleased to see there is funding going towards supports for marginalised women. Additional medical social work resources across the six maternity networks will be implemented. I hope that this will enhance the support given to women at what is a very vulnerable time for them.”
Concluding, Senator O’Loughlin said, “These are very welcome steps towards creating a health system for women that is fully accessible and supportive. As Chair of the Women’s Caucus I look forward to continuing to be an advocate for women in the future.”