§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to improve the recruitment and retention of women in the national health service and to enable them to fulfil their potential in a changing labour market.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThere are already many initiatives under way in the NHS. These include career breaks, flexible working arrangements, job sharing, flexi-hours, holiday play schemes and more flexible approaches to training.
A seminar "Women in the NHS: Opening Minds Opening Doors" was held on Tuesday 25 June. This brought together representatives from health authorities and NHS trusts. It concluded very positively in the preparation of regional action plans to be implemented over the coming year. Earlier this year I invited regional chairmen to nominate a non-executive director in their region to take forward this work. Three regional conferences will be held in the autumn to build on this progress plus another national event next year. In the meantime, we are preparing a document to promote best practice in this field.
All these steps will provide a spur to bring employment practices for women throughout the NHS up to the very high standards which we are working to attain.