Now give menopausal NHS workers access to an open window, health chiefs told
- New policy also gives women flexible working hours if they struggle with symptoms as well as access to cooling ventilation
NHS staff going through the menopause will be offered access to open windows and extended breaks in a bid to ease their symptoms.
Scotland’s health service has introduced a policy giving women flexible working hours if they are struggling with their symptoms, or access to ventilation or a fan to cool down.
The menopause can cause hot flushes, fatigue, aches and pains and mood swings.
The policy also addresses menstrual problems, which can include pain and tiredness.
Women will be able to access period products and take their own pain medication, as well as being given somewhere suitable to store them. They can also request lightweight uniforms.
Women’s Health Minister Jenni Minto hopes other employers will give women flexible working hours if they are struggling with the menopause
The health service is Scotland’s biggest employer with a total of 181,723 staff, of whom 77 per cent are women.
The new policy follows a study of NHS employees carried out by management expert Professor Kathleen Riach, of the University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School.
Most women can work through their menopause or menstrual symptoms without disruption to their jobs, but some can be deeply affected by them.
The survey of more than 6,000 women working for the NHS in Scotland found some had to take respite breaks in their staff toilet or cars when they were struggling with periods or menopause, and many were embarrassed to raise their symptoms with managers.
It also found 78 per cent felt workplaces should have a menstrual health policy.
A total of 76 per cent felt their menopause had disrupted their work in the past 12 months with symptoms including anxiety, brain fog and fatigue. However, 75 per cent carried on working and tried to ignore it.
Professor Riach’s report states: ‘For most employees, working through menopause and menstruation is both desirable and possible, even when symptoms are bothersome, when workplaces have an inclusive culture, flexibility that assumes recognition and trust in professionals to complete their jobs, and time and space to self-manage symptoms in order to continue working.
‘Employees are not asking for accommodations that radically change how the NHS as an employer operates and they demonstrated a keen awareness to the demands of their job
roles and desire to serve those in their care to the highest possible degree.’
Professor Riach said the new policy ‘marks a vital step in ensuring all employees are valued, supported and recognised as an integral part of the country’s workforce, no matter their age or stage of their reproductive lives’.
She added: ‘By identifying and scaling some of the best practice currently existing across the NHS Scotland workforce, as well as introducing new evidence-based practices, this policy will ensure the menstrual status of women is no barrier to jobs and careers in healthcare.’
Women’s Health Minister Jenni Minto said she hoped other employers would follow suit.
She said: ‘It’s important to foster a culture of awareness and compassionate management in the workplace so women feel confident and comfortable in raising issues around their menopause or menstrual health.
‘This is a positive example of an employer taking proactive steps to reduce barriers to women’s health in the workplace and we hope it promotes equivalent efforts across the public, private and third sectors.’
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