The Minister for Health visited Tipperary today for the launch of the Women’s Health Hub in Nenagh Hospital.
Minister Donnelly spoke about the clinic’s services for Tipperary residents.
He referred to this launch as the “manifestation of the future of women’s healthcare” and confirmed that this year’s and last year’s investments in female healthcare would contribute to the establishment of a new national network of services, which would include: 20 national see-and-treat gynecology clinics; specialist endometriosis clinics; specialist menopause clinics; national coverage for breastfeeding for lactation consultants; eating disorder teams, perinatal mental health teams, and more.
Tipperary is now the second to have a specialist menopause clinic in Ireland and the minister believes that four more will launch this year.
Minister Stephen Donnelly also reflected on Ireland’s “dark history” in women’s healthcare, particularly reproductive health, and the plans to prioritise it going forward.
“Ireland has never properly invested in women’s healthcare. I believe, and I think many of us would believe that’s down to a very dark history in Ireland when it comes to women’s healthcare, especially when it comes to reproductive health. In this government, we’re determined that we would radically change that.
“I’m not interested in incremental improvements, I’m not interested in things getting a little bit better each year. What we need to do, first of all, is catch up from decades of underinvestment in women’s healthcare, and we must have the ambition of becoming the envy of the world when it comes to women’s healthcare.“
