Consultant calls for greater workplace support for women in menopause
Clinic Dublin Hospital Ul picture: Outside Menopause Hospital With Dr Consultant Hse Nenagh Of Brian In The Arthur In Casey, Group Cathy Only
Awareness programmes on the impact of menopause in the workplace are urgently needed, a leading expert has said.
Dr Cathy Casey, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist with a special interest in menopause at the University of Limerick Hospital Group, said that awareness is improving — but not fast enough.
“Every woman is going to go through the menopause, and some will sail through it and they will be fine, but about 75% will get significant symptoms,” she said.
The Menopause in the Workplace Survey 2022, carried out for The Menopause Hub, found that almost four in 10 women have considered leaving work because of devastating symptoms.
Separately, a Department of Health survey found that only 23% of women say they would be happy discussing menopause symptoms with managers.
“We really need to get programmes going in the workplace to support women in menopause, to educate them [employers] about the menopause, and their line managers about their symptoms, and to try and get programmes in place where they can be managed so they can stay in the workplace,” said Dr Casey.
Dr Casey said awareness of menopause within the health service is also an issue, despite the fact that 78.2% of staff are female, according to the latest HSE workforce survey.
“The vast majority of staff in a hospital are female,” said Dr Casey.
Dr Casey heads the first HSE menopause clinic to open outside of Dublin, treating women since June at Nenagh Hospital in Tipperary.
She hopes that within a year they will have a nurse specialist offering public awareness talks.
“I’d like to see that we may have set up programmes in the workplace by then," she said.