Menopausal doctors need more flexibility from NHS, says Craigavon Hospital medic

A HOSPITAL doctor has called for more support for menopausal doctors after she was forced to significantly cut back her working hours due to the challenges she faced.

Dr Anne Carson spoke out as the British Medical Association (BMA) urged health bosses to allow doctors experiencing menopausal symptoms to be allowed to work flexibly, and to also put in place workplace adjustments to allow them to continue to contribute to the NHS.

Dr Carson, chair of the BMA’S consultant committee and a consultant radiologist at Craigavon Area Hospital, has been having menopausal symptoms for the last five years.

She said her ability to work the required shift pattern was severely hampered as a result of the chronic lack of sleep.

“I never expected to have crippling menopausal symptoms — I’ve never not been able to deal with the demands of my life — but the menopause hit me like a roller-coaster.

“Talking about the menopause as a doctor is taboo.

“I held off for two years, but I was suffering chronic sleep deprivation throughout that time because my night sweats were so bad.

“I could only sleep for a few hours at a time before having to get up to have a shower.

“I was getting to the point where my decision-making ability wasn’t safe, so I had no choice, I had to tell my line manager.

“It wasn’t something I wanted to do because the stigma is so great, but my line manager was actually very understanding.

“But even though he was sympathetic, the way the NHS works means that if I wanted to try to regulate my sleep a little better by doing fewer night shifts and on-calls, my only option was to cut my overall hours dramatically.

“But that also meant I cut my take home pay dramatically. I’m a single mother of two children at university and that reduction in my salary hit me hard.

“The NHS just isn’t flexible enough; if I’d been allowed to just cut my on-call hours, then I could have continued to work full-time and they would have kept my expertise.”

Almost 40% of respondents to a BMA survey stated that the impact of menopause on their ability to work was “significant”.