Wolverhampton’s women’s health work recognised as a national Model of Excellence
The Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) — Wolverhampton division — has been recognised as a national “Model of Excellence” for women’s health at a national forum in early February 2026. The ICB’s work was highlighted by the local system at a national event on 5 February 2026.
Local health leaders established One-Stop Women’s Health Hubs across communities to make it easier for women to access menopause support, contraception, cervical screening and other services. By integrating primary care, mental health and specialist gynaecological services in a hub-and-spoke model (a city-centre hub with spoke clinics in community settings), the Wolverhampton programme has helped reduce elective surgery waiting times for women by around 40% since 2024, according to the Black Country ICB briefing. NHS England is now citing the Wolverhampton model as a blueprint for the Phase 2 national rollout of the Women’s Health Strategy for England.
The local team worked with NHS England’s women’s health priorities and applied the Core20PLUS5 approach to help reach people who typically face barriers to care. Spoke clinics have been run in familiar community locations such as community centres and places of worship to increase uptake among diverse local communities and build trust, with voluntary sector partners supporting engagement and social prescribing.
Rather than relying on a hospital-only model, Wolverhampton’s community-first approach aims to reduce the postcode lottery in women’s care. Organisers and Black Country leaders have described the programme as a national exemplar and NHS England is promoting it to other areas.
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