A trainee GP launches a campaign today – as part of NHS Change Day 2015 – to challenge existing attitudes, raise awareness, and provide evidence-based information relating to the menopause.
"Our ultimate aim is to inform the public, educate the professionals and empower women," explains co-founder of Change the Change, GP registrar Hannah Short.
The campaign is one of the headline projects of NHS Change Day, which aims to stimulate ideas through a blizzard of #nhschangeday hashtags.
"Whilst menopause isn’t a disease state, it does predispose women to a myriad of chronic health conditions such as osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease," she said. "Furthermore, one in four women state that menopausal symptoms affect their quality of life, and 10% of these are still experiencing problematic symptoms after 15 years."
A recent survey showed that 10% of women are so badly affected they consider leaving their job. "This is a sobering thought for patients, employers and the NHS – especially when we consider that, with an average age of 43, women encompass 77% of the latter’s workforce," Ms Short said.
The campaign is urging NHS professionals to join an online community at ChangetheChange.org, become acquainted with the latest research, and put menopause on the agenda of team, directorate and board meetings at local health bodies.
Co-founder Natasha North, says: "It’s pretty tough to be told by other women, or by medical professionals, that menopause is something natural, that we all go through it, and the best thing is to put up with it and wait for it all to go away.
"There are still a lot of taboos about menopause. We don’t talk about it enough in the NHS. We don’t talk about it as women, as practitioners and managers, as employees and colleagues in a predominantly female workforce. Frontline staff need to be prepared to offer informed advice and help."
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