NHS Trust hosts week of events to promote menopause awareness to staff | News and events

Staff, members and NHS partners of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) have been finding out more about the menopause in a special week of events to mark the world awareness day.

From 14-18 October, NSFT has linked up with the wider Integrated Care System for Norfolk and Waveney to organise virtual talks and a system-wide support group meeting open to all staff.

NSFT Health and Wellbeing Manager Jodie Millard said: “Over the last year we have been working hard to create a menopause friendly environment and have been sharing our successes with the wider NHS system.

“We are delighted that other NHS organisations locally have joined us to support this week of events which are not just for women and those assigned women at birth but their supporters and allies.”

Hundreds of NHS staff signed up for online sessions including dealing with brain fog, HRT and alternatives to HRT, how the menopause affects women physically and mentally and neurodiversity and the menopause.  

Lisa Parker, from Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, said sharing best practice was vital to improve workplace culture and ensure staff have a consistent and standardised offer of wellbeing wherever they work.

“The work that NSFT has done around menopause is phenomenal and the sharing and collaboration that this has allowed with the wider system has been extremely positive and will prompt further cross sharing between partners around multiple areas of health and wellbeing.”

World Menopause Day, on 18 October, is an internationally recognised event that was established in 2009 by the International Menopause Society in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It aims to break taboo and improve women’s health and wellbeing by raising awareness about the symptoms of menopause and the support options available.

This year’s theme is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and the week’s events have included a look at oestrogen and progesterone, plus the benefits for some of testosterone. There was also the chance to find out alternatives to HRT.

One event was with NSFT advanced nurse practitioner Katie Loader, who has 21 years’ experience as a mental health nurse, mostly working in acute services and for the last 15 years in crisis teams.

She completed her Masters in Advanced Professional Practice in June 2023 with her dissertation on the menopause. Since then, she has set up a menopause treatment pathway for patients presenting in crisis where the menopause was causing or exacerbating symptoms including assessment and liaising with primary care to agree a treatment plan.

Cath Byford, NSFT’s deputy chief executive officer and chief people officer, has been supporting the Trust’s ongoing work to become a menopause-friendly employer, which has included a new menopause policy.

She said: “This work is vital for our staff and those in our NHS partners. It’s not something which just affects women and those who are women at birth, but everyone around them. More awareness means we can make adjustments so that everyone has the chance to work in a safer, kinder and better environment.”