Department of Health Gender Pay Gap
On 10th October, Ms Rashmi Mathew attended the most recent Gender Pay Gap Meeting. Please see her report below:
We had excellent presentations from Prof Carrie Newlands and her team on Sexual harassment in surgery report and recommendations. They are looking to set up a national implementation panel.
Flexible working committee presented their work and some of the outcomes from the 23 exemplar sites chosen to pilot this. The committee is for Agenda for Change staff, but challenges and progress will parallel medical workforce. Flexible working aligns with the ‘Retain’ domain of the NHS Long Term workforce plan and this is important for making the case for supporting flexible working in Trusts.
Parliamentary consultation on transport
MWF responded to a parliamentary consultation about transport and the different needs for women, children and young people. Active travel is a good means of achieving physical activity which is essential for health.
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Suicide Prevention
On Tuesday 6th June 2023 one of our officers Dr Angharad Ruttley attended a symposium hosted by the BMA Board of Science on behalf of MWF about ‘Suicide Prevention During Economic Crisis, a UK Approach’. Here, the effect of suicide and homicide on clinicians was discussed. Additionally, the importance of poverty and social determinants on suicide was highlighted as well as suicide rates within the medical profession. This included suicide rates for female doctors and female healthcare professionals.
Hatfield Vision
In July 2022, MWF was one of 28 organisations that endorsed the ‘Hatfield vision’, written by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health. We are now part of a task force to ensure there is action on the 16 recommendations. Women and girls have unique needs across their lifecourse, and poor reproductive health outcomes develop over time and across generations.
The recommendations are clear. We demand improved access to contraception especially for those in deprived groups - one goal is to reduce the percentage of pregnancies that are unplanned or unintended to less than 30% of all pregnancies (from 45% now). Improvements are also demanded in access to menstrual health support, preconception care, menopause care, cervical screening, abortion care and access to information. Maternal health outcomes in black women and women of colour are significantly worse than in other women, and the Hatfield vision highlights the need to improve this and to improve sex and relationship education in schools. The Hatfield vision is at: https://www.fsrh.org/news/press-release-fsrh-hatfield-vision-2022/ The new task force works across multiple groups to demand action.
Professor Scarlett McNally, MWF President who represents MWF on this group said: ‘it is shocking that so many women’s lives are adversely impacted by lack of access to good care. Some concepts are simple. It works well to bring everyone together to work out how things could be improved.”
