Comment EDITOR’S COMMENTwith LOUISE FRAMPTON THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL Editor


Louise Frampton louiseframpton@stepcomms.com


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Pledging change for women in medicine


At the time of writing, International Women’s Day was being celebrated – a global day that celebrates the achievements of women, as well as focusing greater attention on gender equality. It is also a time to reflect on why it is still important to have this day. A while ago, I visited a surgery-related conference. While networking in the evening, a


heated discussion erupted – a gentleman insisted that “discrimination against women no longer exists”. I replied that female hospital doctors, today, still earn less than men (on average 18.9% less, based on a comparison of full-time equivalent mean pay). According to the RCP, the gap is actually 24.4% for hospital doctors – when you take into account working hours. However, the gentleman did not want to hear facts and, despite my best efforts, continued to remain in denial. It seems fitting, therefore, that I should use this month’s column to highlight a pledge by the BMA aimed at ending sexism in the medical profession. Already signed by NHS Employers, NHS Providers, the Medical Women’s Federation, numerous Royal Medical Colleges and other organisations, the pledge represents a commitment by organisations to enact change in the way they tackle sexism. In 2021, BMA worked with Dr. Chelcie Jewitt, co-founder of the Surviving in Scrubs campaign, to look into sexism in medicine after she had gathered an array of testimonies of sexist behaviour from women doctors across the NHS. The subsequent survey (of around 2,500 doctors) found that a shocking 91% of women doctor respondents had experienced sexism at work with 42% feeling they could not report it. In addition, 74% also said that sexism acts as a barrier to career progression. Women who took part in the survey said that they suffer patronising comments, are judged on their appearance, are overlooked in their career progression or are ignored by patients and other doctors in favour of their male colleagues. Seventy percent of women felt that their clinical ability had been doubted or undervalued because of their gender, while a staggering 56% of women had received unwanted verbal conduct relating to their gender and 31% experienced unwanted physical conduct in the workplace. The Surviving in Scrubs website highlights some deeply concerning personal stories. One woman commented: “Male consultants would repeatedly send female trainees to paeds ED stating that ‘the girl should go to paeds’ and laughing about it as they did. As a female trainee I was repeatedly sent to Paeds ED by male consultants, while my male colleagues would be prioritised for resus. I would then be criticised for not putting myself forward to work in resus enough. However, even when I did, I would often be moved out of resus to paeds, so that a male colleague could work in resus.” Another commented: “When I interviewed for Medical School, I had a panel of three retired male doctors; one of the first questions I was asked was ‘why should we accept you to medical school? The likelihood is you’ll get halfway through training then have children and give up.’” There are many more accounts that make equally depressing reading. However, the Pledge being signed by medical organisations is about turning these findings


into progress. Organisations are signing up to work collaboratively on ten goals – from ending sexual harassment, to supporting women’s health in the workplace, which together aim to form a roadmap towards “a profession free of discrimination based on gender”. The Pledge is a step in the right direction and, although there is a long way to go, it is heartening to hear that these issues are not only being acknowledged but also being tackled head on, with a consensus to act. Sometimes denial is less about ignorance of the facts and more about maintaining the status quo. It is this that frustrated me the most about the conversation I had with the gentleman at the conference. As someone who likes the last word, I think I will let this Pledge speak for itself…


louiseframpton@stepcomms.com Get in touch and give us your views, email me:


April 2023 I www.clinicalservicesjournal.com 5


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