§ Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what policies are being implemented to increase the number of women employed by the national health service.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyEarlier this year I launched the "Women in the NHS" initiative to improve recruitment and retention of women staff within the national health service. A seminar was held on 25 June which considered a report from the Office of Public Management, commissioned by the NHS management executive, identifying the relevant issues. This concluded with an agenda for local action which will be followed up at three conferences in the autumn. Each regional chairman has nominated a non-executive member to take forward this work.
A retainer scheme has been introduced to allow staff to interrupt their careers for up to five years for domestic or other reasons, and includes refresher schemes, temporary employment and training courses. Health authorities are also encouraged to provide child care facilities which may include workplace nurseries, child care vouchers and holiday playschemes, as required locally.
In January, a report of a joint working party on women doctors and their careers was published. This made a number of practical suggestions to promote equal opportunities for women doctors in the NHS. In response, the Department is reconvening a working party on part-time training to look at the current arrangements for senior house officers and senior registrars. One and a half million pounds has been provided to fund part-time training posts and to set up a new scheme, WIST—Women in Surgical Training—to improve the representation of women in the higher grades of the surgical specialties. We have also issued a code of good practice to promote equality of opportunity in the recruitment and selection of doctors and dentists.
The recent agreement on junior doctors' hours has for the first time set an upper limit to the number of hours that can be worked—maximum hours per week and continuous spells of duty—and should reduce the difficulties of combining family responsibilities with a medical career.
399WThe Department has funded several open learning "return to work" packages. "Return to nursing" was launched last summer and "return to health visiting" was launched in May. A "return to midwifery" package is planned for December. These have been supplemented by a "come back to caring" information pack.
The English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting which is centrally funded, is undertaking a review of training needs and materials for post registration education and training so that these can best meet the needs of the work force, for example, by providing part-time training for part-time staff.
The "women in pharmacy" work commissioned by the Department in 1989 has led to the production of two return to work videos, one aimed at employers and one at employees. Both highlight the potential advantages of attracting women returners and provide practical suggestions for managing career breaks. The videos are accompanied by an information pack designed by the National Association of Women Pharmacists and funded centrally.
The NHS is the single biggest employer of women in Europe and probably in the world. I am determined that we should be in the vanguard of employment practices for women. Much remains to be done to achieve that, but I am encouraged by the progress now being made.