Police call in the menopause tsar
POLICE officers and firefighters are to undergo publicly funded ‘menopause classes’ to teach them how to help female colleagues going through the change.
Emergency services staff will receive special training where they will learn how to deal more sensitively with co-workers experiencing hot flushes and mood swings.
Taxpayer-funded monthly classes will be run by a GP, Louise Newson, who dubs herself the ‘Menopause Doctor’, to try to halt a flood of older women leaving the services and to ‘destigmatise’ the issue.
But Tory MP David Davies last night criticised the classes as ‘a waste of money’, adding: ‘Policemen and women have enough to do, without another day of training for something we are all well aware of.’
And broadcaster Jenni Murray warned of the dangers of implying that the menopause could make a woman less able to do her job.
But Dr Newson last night insisted there was an urgent need to educate sexist or ignorant managers, who too often regarded the menopause as ‘a joke’.
She is to hold sessions with staff at West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service, which are jointly funding them. Dr Newson declined to say how much she was being paid, but insisted it was well below her usual private rate of up to £190 a session.
The GP, 46, who has already run some sessions with the emergency services, said ten per cent of menopausal women considered giving up work because of their symptoms.
Despite this, the issue was still not being taken seriously. ‘There is a problem with policewomen working through the menopause and policemen not understanding them,’ Dr Newson said.
‘Menopause is taken as a bit of a joke. The attitude is, “You’re a bit moody.” But it can affect women very seriously – and it’s time we destigmatised it.’ Hot flushes could make working in uniform unbearable, she said, while some officers feared making mistakes due to the lapses in concentration which can affect menopausal women.
And she said too few people realised that mood swings and debilitating fatigue could also be triggered by changes in hormone levels.
Male managers could be unsympathetic, she said, but so too could female bosses. ‘About 25 per cent of women don’t have any symptoms when they go through the menopause,’ added Dr Newson. ‘If that’s your manager, she might say to you, “Well, I was fine, so what are you going on about?”’
Dr Newson will give staff tips on how to help those they suspect are going through the menopause, adding: ‘Having a culture at work where it is possible to talk about the menopause will help.’
She stressed the sessions, at which she will outline treatment options such as hormone replacement therapy, were voluntary and open to all within each organisation.
The initiative follows a demand by Dame Sally Davies, England’s Chief Medical Officer, that employers do more to make workplaces menopause-friendly.
There are about 3.5million women of menopause age in work, according to official figures.
West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire Service confirmed they were paying for the sessions but declined to reveal the cost.
Mr Davies, once a special constable, added: ‘If they are doing this in police time, then they are going to be paid to train for this instead of something more important.’
And Dame Jenni, presenter of Radio 4’s Women’s Hour, warned: ‘Great care must be taken never to imply menopause symptoms make a woman less able to do her job.
‘Middle-aged women suffer quite enough prejudice without their menopause being seen as a health hazard. It isn’t.’
Amanda Tozer, a consultant gynaecologist who runs a Harley Street menopause clinic, added: ‘I am sure most women would not want their symptoms to be viewed as an excuse for not working effectively.’
But Dr Heather Currie, chairman of the British Menopause Society, said: ‘In the past, menopause has been a bit of a taboo. Anything that can change that would be excellent.’
There is a problem with policewomen working through the menopause and policemen dismissing them as a bit moody DR LOUISE NEWSON