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 women patients and their families. Great advances are being made
in medicine, 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 a 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, especially in the training grades.
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.
MWF aims to
• Promote the personal and professional
development of women in medicine
• Improve the health of women and their
families in society
MWF consistently works to change discriminatory attitudes and practices
The
MWF Campaigns for:
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
during 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.
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
• Slotshares wherever possible
• Creative rota organisation to accommodate
less-than-full-time (LTFT) trainees
• Proper funding for LTFT trainees if no
slot share can be found
• Adequate locum cover if women go on maternity
leave
• Make it every doctor’s right to
have LTFT training if he/she has a child under the age of 3 years
• A reduction in the complexity of LTFT
training to recognise the importance of acquired competencies rather than
just time served in a post
• 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. These options should
also be available for men with caring responsibilities.
•
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 and general practice.
• Facilitate return to work after a career
break – refresher sessions and fewer hurdles.
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:
• Uniform maternity pay for all doctors,
whether in general practice, in hospital or as a returner
• Protection of reasonable maternity locum
payments in general practice
•
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:
•
Adequate
infrastructure support
•
Adequate office space and secretarial support for consultants in all, and
especially 'Cinderella' specialties
•
Introduction of more clerical support for junior doctors in hospitals
•
Proper
arrangements for continuing professional development for all doctors in all
grades in specialties, 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:
•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 branch
of medicine
