Gosport MP joins campaign calling on the government to give more support to working women with menopause

AN MP has vowed to make a change for working women with menopause.
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Dame Caroline Dinenage, Gosport MP, has warned many employer’s lack of support menopausal symptoms pushes ‘highly skilled and experienced’ women out of work and the change will introduced menopause as a characteristic.

The cross-party women and equalities committee – which Dame Caroline sits on – is calling for action by amending the Equality Act is calling on the government to act, amending the Equality Act to introduce menopause as a protected characteristic, and to include a duty for employers to provide reasonable adjustments for menopausal employees.

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The MPs also urge the government to remove dual prescription charges for oestrogen and progesterone as part of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) nationwide, replacing it with a single charge for all women.

Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage. 
Picture: Richard TownshendGosport MP Caroline Dinenage. 
Picture: Richard Townshend
Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage. Picture: Richard Townshend

Dame Caroline said: ‘We need to ensure that workplaces provide the necessary and appropriate support for women.

‘As a former Department of Health and Social Care minister, I recognise just how important this issue is, and I am pleased to be part of the women and equalities committee pushing for further improvements in this area.’

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MP Caroline Nokes, chairman of the women and equalities committee, said: ‘Menopause is inevitable. The steady haemorrhage of talented women from our workforce, however, is not. Stigma, shame and dismissive cultures can, and must, be dismantled.

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‘It is imperative that we build workplaces and a society which not only supports those going through the menopause, but encourages some of the most experienced and skilled workers in our economy to thrive.’

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