‘Women’s voices should be heard and pain should never be ignored’, vows Wales’s first Women’s Health Minister

Women’s voices should be heard and their pain should not simply be endured, Wales’s first Women’s Health Minister has vowed.

Delyth Jewell said she was determined to tackle the normalisation of pain in women’s healthcare and wanted to ensure women’s voices were listened to.

Speaking during a Women’s Health Summit at the Temple of Peace, she said: "For too long, women's health has been treated as an afterthought. No woman should be afraid to speak up about pain or things that don't feel right.

“Women should be believed about their bodies, and I am determined to change the culture that has let too many women down."

She added: "Women's voices helped create the Women's Health Plan. Now we're making sure those voices continue to shape what comes next."

The summit brought together clinicians, researchers and women with lived experience to tackle the normalisation of pain in healthcare — covering both clinical procedures and long-term conditions — and to identify how women's voices can better shape NHS services.

Following the summit, minimum standards for service user engagement will be drafted to ensure women's voices continue to influence the delivery and future priorities of the Women's Health Plan.

Work to refresh and strengthen the plan will also begin, including gathering feedback directly from women across Wales.