Newson Clinic

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

We looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture.At our last assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, we rated this key question as Outstanding.

This service scored 89 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service demonstrated a clear and compelling mission to “listen, educate and empower” women, underpinned by a strong vision “to improve the health, wellbeing and lives of all our patients.” Leaders were firmly committed to advancing public understanding of women’s health and ensured this purpose guided both strategic direction and daily practice.

Leadership was strong, visible, and deeply embedded throughout the organisation. Leaders actively reinforced the mission and vision across all aspects of the service, ensuring staff understood how their roles contributed to delivering high‑quality, personalised care. These guiding principles were routinely reviewed and discussed at team meetings and further strengthened during the service’s annual staff conference.

Staff consistently told us the service was designed to provide individualised, holistic care tailored to the unique needs of each woman. Patients were placed at the centre of all decision‑making processes and this facilitated optimal treatment options.

All the staff members we spoke with were highly positive about the culture of the service. Staff told us the culture was open, transparent, blame free and non-discriminatory and they enjoyed working there. The culture supported learning, feedback and reflection to enhance the quality of care provided for patients.

The service had effective leadership strategies in place to maintain the sustainability of the clinic and to drive continuous improvement. The service was shaped, developed and improved through meaningful engagement with patients and staff; involvement in research; and active participation in community initiatives such as the free Balance app, outreach and charity endeavours with organisations around the world, and social media videos and Podcasts. This approach ensured that the service not only met the needs of its current patients but also contributed to wider improvements in women’s health.

Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively and ensure the organisational visions were delivered, and risks were well managed.

Leaders actively engaged with patients, staff, and external healthcare providers to gather feedback and they took meaningful action in response. They demonstrated during the assessment how they made changes for the better wherever they could. Leaders strived to foster an ‘open door policy’ with staff and a non-hierarchical structure.

The staff we spoke with onsite at the clinic were consistently positive about the leaders of the service. They felt leaders modelled the values of the service and they felt respected, supported and valued by them. We received feedback forms from the administrative team who informed us they would appreciate more engagement and communication with the senior leaders and consideration to be given to their career development and salaries.

We saw the leadership team worked with multiple organisations and charities in the UK and around the world, to help to provide free education for women about perimenopause and menopause to help them to make informed choices about their health.

Leaders had also provided funding for a 3-year PhD student in suicide prevention with Liverpool John Moore’s University; and for a Urologist to complete her training in Uganda. Leaders encouraged staff to undertake volunteer work.

The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard, and where everyone respected each other and their differences. Leaders wanted everyone to feel empowered and comfortable to challenge and give an opinion.

The service had a Freedom to Speak Up policy in place and had established internal and external contacts for staff to raise any concerns with if they needed to. Staff were aware of the policy and process on how to raise concerns.

The service valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who work for them. Policies and procedures to promote diversity, equality and human rights were in place. Staff had received training in equality, diversity and inclusion and were aware of supporting people with protected characteristics such as age, gender, religion and disability. There was a zero tolerance to bullying and harassment and leaders were committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment.

All of the staff we spoke with reported high levels of job satisfaction. They told us they felt valued and were encouraged to be involved in contributing to the running of the service.

Since our last assessment in 2019, the service had commissioned an external organisation to undertake a substantial review and redevelopment of its governance arrangements. Staff told us this process had been instrumental in reuniting the team following a challenging period linked to media scrutiny about the service. They reported that the structured, independent review provided clarity, strengthened internal processes, and helped rebuild confidence across the workforce.

At this assessment, we found a comprehensive and well‑established governance infrastructure that effectively supported the delivery of high‑quality care and treatments. Governance oversight occurred at multiple levels within the service including strategic, operational and clinical, and this had a positive impact on quality and safety. Policies were robust, clearly written, and easily accessible to all staff. These were reviewed annually, or more frequently when required.

Staff had clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and managers ensured consistent support through regular meetings, performance reviews and appraisals. Designated leads were in place for key governance domains including clinical governance, safeguarding, infection control, health and safety, research, human resources, and information governance. This distributed leadership added resilience and sustainability of governance within the service.

Induction processes were thorough, and clinicians benefited from a structured onboarding programme with mentoring and ongoing supervision arrangements to support professional development and maintain high standards of clinical practice. Leaders focused on competency assurance and not just staffing to ensure a high-quality workforce to support patient safety and quality.

In addition to the staff governance structure, we saw evidence of a well‑coordinated framework of governance meetings occurring at weekly, monthly, and quarterly intervals. These included board meetings, quality and governance committees, clinical operations meetings, and dedicated forums for reviewing complaints and incidents. Clinical meetings included structured peer‑review activities that allowed clinicians to discuss complex cases and reflect on practice. Staff reported that this had strengthened clinical decision‑making and improved the consistency of treatment plans for patients with more complex hormonal needs. Daily huddle meetings with the administrative team further ensured staff remained informed, aligned, and able to respond promptly to operational needs.

The service had multiple, ongoing audit processes in place which demonstrated robust quality assurance and governance arrangements. Clinical audit and data driven monitoring was undertaken regularly including comprehensive analyses of outcomes for patients.

The service had an up‑to‑date business continuity plan (BCP) outlining clear procedures for responding to emergencies and major incidents. We also found robust measures in place to ensure the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of patient data, supported by strong information governance processes aligned with data security standards. Staff demonstrated a high level of awareness regarding patient confidentiality and took their responsibilities for information security seriously.

The service worked proactively with a range of external healthcare professionals to ensure patients receive seamless, high‑quality, and well‑coordinated care. Staff worked to build strong working relationships with NHS GPs, specialists, diagnostic providers, and hospitals to support timely referrals, shared care planning, and continuity of treatment.

The service engaged with community and global organisations to promote health education to enable people to make informed choices about their health during perimenopause and menopause. The service provided us with examples of outreach and charity work which included:

- Writing booklets about HIV and menopause with Sophia Forum (a charity for women with HIV)

- Working with local communities about Female Genital Mutation (FGM) and menopause

- Working with ‘Lancashire Women’ (a charity for deprived women)

- Giving presentations and teaching sessions to women in 5 different prisons

- Providing teaching sessions to NHS organisations

- Writing a course entitled ‘Mental Health and Hormones’ for the Royal College of Psychiatrists

- Working with ‘Ovacome’ (an ovarian cancer charity) to write an information booklet for women with ovarian cancer

- Working with Dimensions (a charity which supports adults with learning disabilities) to write a booklet for women with learning disabilities

- Providing a webinar for Fibromyalgia UK (a charity supporting people with fibromyalgia) about mental health and hormones

- Undertaking research with Gordon Moody charity (a charity which supports people with gambling addictions) about addictions and hormones

The service also provided us with examples of free presentations given from January-October 2025 which included:

• All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Osteoporosis and Bone Health
• Finham Park School (staff)
• Leicestershire Medico Legal Society
• Imperial College Women’s Federation
• Random House/Penguin

Events

• Dallas and New York events with a documentary maker about perimenopause and injustice to women who are not listened to)
• Mills Reeve Femtech Afternoon Tea
• Smart Aging Summit Oxford
• Voyagers The FIX Festival
• Eat, Nourish Love Autumn Fair
• Netherlands Women’s Health Event

Webinars and Podcasts

• Endometriosis Cumbria Support Group Webinar
• Essex Equip NHS Webinar
• Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Nurses webinar
• Canadian Mounted Police webinar
• Suicide Prevention Podcast with Pooja Saini (a Professor of Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention)

Patients and staff were viewed as partners of the service and their feedback informed how leaders shaped and improved the service. Patient feedback was requested routinely after every appointment with the clinic. Feedback from patients was collated and discussed in weekly meetings and via the ‘Newson Herald’ which was a weekly email to all staff. Leaders told us they looked for trends and themes in patient feedback to identify areas of the service which could be improved.

Staff were encouraged to give feedback both informally and formally. We saw evidence of staff surveys and the service had recently introduced a

‘Staff Engagement Group’ which was made up of representatives from all staff areas to regularly gather patient feedback.

Leaders were committed to critical research, education and innovative ways of working. Staff explained ‘Our work doesn’t stop at the clinic.’ As such, leaders told us that, Newson Clinic profits were re-invested not only back into the clinic, but into the ‘Dr Louise Newson Podcast,’ the ‘Balance’ app, ‘Newson Education,’ and ‘Newson Research.’

The Balance app provides free, medically approved resources and leaders told us this inclusive and innovative approach, enabled women experiencing hormonal changes to be supported, informed, and able to improve their wellbeing. The app was used by both patients and women across the globe and was the world’s largest online hormone health library. The service had worked and was continuing to work with the United Nations Population Fund to produce 10 co-branded articles to feature in the Balance app.

The service engaged in numerous outreach and charity work endeavours including providing presentations, developing educational materials, and undertaking podcasts and webinars. Within the service, leaders ensured staff education was a priority and external speakers with specialisms were regularly invited to staff meetings.

The service supported continued professional development for clinicians and had created the Newson Clinic’s CPD accredited ‘Confidence in Menopause’ for their doctors. The service had also designed a course for the Royal College of Psychiatry to use entitled ‘Mental Health and Hormones.’ The service was awarded a prize for this course for being the most downloaded course in the year.

The service collated data internally from Newson Clinic patients for research such as side effects from testosterone. The service also worked with external organisations for research such as the Gordon Moody charity which supports people with gambling addictions, to research links between addictions and hormones.

Leaders continuously reflected on their work, patient outcomes, and global research. They prioritised time to develop innovative ways of working and make changes to the service. For example, the service had purchased Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan equipment for measuring bone mineral density and body composition as part of treating patients holistically and protecting their future health.