NHS health checks in England to have questions on menopause for first time

NHS health checks are to include questions about the menopause for the first time, ministers have announced, with millions of women in England expected to benefit.

Adults aged from 40 to 74 who do not have a pre-existing long-term health condition are eligible for an NHS health check every five years. The checks are intended to identify those at higher risk of heart and kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and stroke.

The checks will also include questions about the menopause, which the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) estimates could help as many as 5 million women. The questions will be written over the next few months and ministers hope the change will take effect from 2026.

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the change would give women “the visibility and support they have long been asking for.”

“Women have been suffering in silence for far too long,” he said, and they are “left to navigate menopause alone, with very little support – all because of an outdated health system that fails to acknowledge how serious it can be.

“No one should have to grit their teeth and just get on with what can be debilitating symptoms or be told that it’s simply part of life.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 October 2025

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