With menopause affecting up to half of us – 3.905 billion across the world – and menopausal women being the fastest growing demographic group in the global workforce, we believe it is crucial to support doctors going through the menopause so that they can continue to practice for longer.
As of March 2020, 79.2% of the healthcare workforce working for the Health Service Executive (HSE) are female. The Medical Council of Ireland annual report of 2020 shows that 44% of the workforce are female, growing 1% year on year. In 2020, for the first time there were 5% more females than male doctors in the 20-35 age group. However, there is a steep decline in the number of female doctors in practice from 46 years of age onwards. While there may be many reasons for this, we wanted to know if menopause could be one of them.
Through our “Supporting doctors through menopause” campaign, Medical Protection has surveyed members to find out their experiences of the menopause. Based on that feedback, we are making a range of policy recommendations with the aim of supporting female doctors struggling with menopause symptoms. We are calling for better training and education around menopause and its symptoms for managers and senior leaders, and asking healthcare organisations to consider flexible working arrangements to support female doctors to stay in the workforce for longer.