About Medical Women's Federation

 

The MWF Manifesto

The Medical Women's Federation was founded in 1917 and is today the largest and most influential body of women doctors in the UK.

Our aims are to advance the personal and professional development of women in medicine, to change discriminatory attitudes and practices and to work on behalf of patients.

Great advances are being made in medicine at the beginning of the 21st century, and as the number of women doctors rise, women have an increasingly important role to play in delivering NHS services to patients. This manifesto calls for fundamental changes to be made to the way in which women doctors are trained and employed in order to make the most of what they have to offer throughout their working lives, and to ensure they make as full as contribution to patient care as they are able to. This is of particular importance at the current time, when it is recognised that there is a real shortage of doctors in the UK, and ambitious targets have been set for increasing both numbers of consultants and General Practitioners.

There are still many areas where women's health needs are not well met; the persistence of domestic violence and genital mutilation are but two examples where the MWF continues to campaign at a national and international level for change.

Supporting flexibility

The Medical Women's Federation believes that there is an unmet need for family friendly working practices which take into account that many women doctors will become mothers and raise families at some stage in their career. At a later stage many will also go on to have substantial caring responsibilities in their working lives. The retention and recruitment of women doctors is essential for the development of the medical workforce - this requires the development of flexibility at all levels.

Virtually all of those who train flexibly go on to make a long term, often full-time commitment to patients within the NHS.

These changes are essential to ensure that these talented women are retained within the NHS, achieve their personal potential, and are able to make their proper contribution to patient care.

Increasingly, particularly with dual career families, men are also seeking more flexible patterns of working. Better working practices have the potential to benefit the whole workforce, and improve the care of all patients. What changes are needed to accommodate this reality? We call for more flexibility - in training, in working, and in retirement.

Flexible training

• > A fair pay deal for trainees who train part - time
• >Proper funding for flexible trainee
• >A reduction in the complexity of part-time training to recognise the importance of acquired competencies rather than just time served in a post
• >Increased opportunity for flexible training at SHO and Specialist Registrar level
• >Clarification of pensions for part-time trainees
• >Improved opportunities for career progression

Flexible working

• >Hours of work which take school hours into account where feasible; term time working if practical without detriment to patient care
• >Changes in traditional hours for clinics
  Introduction of evening and weekend sessions
  > A flexible approach to revalidation to ensure that those with skills are able to teach and supervise, even if they no longer undertake acute clinical work
  >A flexible approach to working conditions of senior hospital doctors, with greater opportunities for less than full-time work and job sharing
  >Proper retainer/returner schemes in hospital medicine

Flexible retirement

>Flexible retirement policies to enable senior staff to reduce some aspects of their work without jeopardising their pension
>Flexible hours to accommodate those with substantial caring responsibilities, often those with elderly parent

Supporting the working carer

To support women doctors to achieve their potential and work for patients we need:

1. >Increased maternity pay for non-principals, assistants and returners in general practice in line with other doctors
2. >Child care being made a tax-deductible expense
   >Provision of nurseries for the pre-school children of all working parents
   > Hospital nurseries and creches which recognise the hours that doctors work

 

Supporting all working doctors

To allow all doctors to make a proper contribution to patient care we need:

1. >Adequate infrastructure support
   >Adequate office space and secretarial support for consultants in all, and especially 'Cinderella' specialities
   >Introduction of more clerical support for junior doctors in hospitals
   >Proper arrangements for continuing professional development for all doctors in all grades in specialities, encompassing both clinical and managerial skills
   >An end to student poverty - MWF has direct experience of the hardship of many mature medical students, and actively supports a number through its bursary schemes
   
   

Supporting women patients

We want:

1. >The development of supportive approaches to the management of domestic violence within the NHS
   >An end to female genital mutilation and sexual abuse, both in this country and abroad
   >Recognition of the impact of social exclusion and poverty on women's health
   >Women patients to be able to see women doctors should they so wish in any branches of medicine