These Brave, Brave Women Of The NHS
As we approach International Nurses Day and the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth on May 12, nurses of the NHS have demonstrated through the current coronavirus pandemic that their guiding selfless principles remain the same today as they did two centuries ago.
As we approach International Nurses Day and the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth on May 12, nurses of the NHS have demonstrated through the current coronavirus pandemic that their guiding selfless principles remain the same today as they did two centuries ago. The only real difference is the change of dress.
88 per cent of nurses are women. 95 per cent of midwives are women. In 2018, 45 per cent of doctors were women. That proportion will be even higher now. Overall, three in four NHS staff (77 per cent) are women.
They come from all parts of the world and consist of all ages, undertaking jobs ranging from administration, domestic and support clinical roles, through to nursing, doctors, physiotherapists and all the wide range of other functions which are vital to the delivery of healthcare in our country.
As a gynaecologist and obstetrician, I have seen throughout my career the way in which women juggle their work and home commitments. The adage that women put their order of priorities as ‘family, work, self’ is utterly true, and although I do not intend to diminish the huge contribution made by men working in the same careers, I want to draw attention to the additional burden that COVID-19 is having on the majority of the NHS workforce, and explain why I have decided to do something about it.
Women take time off work to see a doctor, in the first instance it is normally their GP, 32 per cent more often than men. ** AND this is for their own health needs, not their children or when pregnant. This is not because they are weak, but quite the opposite. I often see women who have left it too long before visiting the doctor and are profoundly anaemic due to torrential periods which have come round with predictable regularity. They simply did not have the time or capacity to get the help or medical advice they needed.
So during the coronavirus pandemic when women are giving their all and, as we have seen in recent weeks, tragically their lives, I believe that the women of the NHS need additional help.
I do a regular ‘surgery’ in my maternity department as part of the well-being programme for our staff. Just today I saw seven women who were midwives, a student nurse, an ODP, and a ward sister. Five of them had gynaecological problems which they were desperate to see a doctor about. One needed urgent treatment for a urinary tract infection. One had run out of her HRT. One was seven weeks pregnant and anxious. All were incredibly grateful to get the problem sorted and to have advice which reassured them.
Some will need to wait until ‘all this is over’ before there can be a final solution, but I have made life manageable for them in the meantime.
So, the next time you see pictures of women (I know it’s hard to tell!) under their PPE or part of the team ‘proning’ (turning onto their front) an ICU patient, just imagine if their tampon is leaking, their bladder is hurting, or they are having a hot flush underneath all that, and you will understand why it is important for us to provide such a lifeline to NHS staff all over the UK.
I am not only a gynaecologist and obstetrician at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, I am also part of a huge team at Dr Morton’s of excellent doctors, some experienced GPs and many, uniquely, gynaecologists who are at the end of a phone, email and video if need be.
We are here for the NHS. Through technology, medical professionals are able to work remotely to treat the sick and unwell, which was not the case in Florence Nightingale’s era. We must make the most of it. For everyone, and in particular, the women of the NHS.
