•The Liverpool Womens Hospital (LWH) ‘Menopause Academy’ has supported GPs across Cheshire and Merseyside since 2020 to complete BMS training qualifications – keeping management of patients experiencing menopausal symptoms in the community. Over 50 GPwSIs exist within Cheshire and Merseyside.

•Waiting lists to the beginning of 2024 remained high with 62+ week waiting times. Since then, two pilots have been trailed in areas where need is greatest to redirect patients from the acute waiting list, to be seen within community-based settings by LWH consultants and GPwSIs; ensuring patients are seen and treated sooner, in settings closer to home. This is evident from our mapping of patient travel time; patients travelled <4 miles to attend these clinics.

•The third pilot within Cheshire and Merseyside is due to launch in July 2025 to support another acute hospital in Cheshire and Merseyside.

•LWH consultants have been job-planned to support these initiatives and GPwSIs were funded via split tariff (comparative to LARC) or sessional payment arrangements.

•Planning for the pilots took place with wider stakeholders including Primary Care Networks, Integrated Care Board, Liverpool Womens Hospital and the Cheshire and Merseyside Gynaecology Network.

•The Cheshire and Merseyside Provider Collaborative supported with the planning and formal evaluation against key KPIs, to ensure optimum results and acknowledgement of lessons learnt to further develop a Cheshire and Merseyside offer – to support the wider population.

•Further work is underway to develop the model in collaboration with pelvic health physiotherapy, psychologists, pharmacy led menopause clinicians and other relevant support services, in addition to rolling out 52 mg LNG IUD provision for all indications in all areas of Cheshire and Merseyside.