The response highlights several opportunities which the PDA and NAWP believe could improve health for women and should form part of the government’s future plans.
Key points from the response include that the workplace needs to be much more responsive to women’s health concerns and that company sickness policies need to be appropriately supportive and effective. The PDA and NAWP have highlighted the need to consider how employers can meet their business or operational needs whilst addressing their duty of care in relation to their workforce, and maximising health and wellbeing overall in the workplace.
As a major employer of women in the UK, the NHS has a role to play in the improvement of the health of its workforce and the PDA and NAWP suggest that both health promotion campaigns and education around women’s health should be integrated within the NHS. This would potentially have a sizeable impact both on women employed in the organisation, as well as those that are cared for and treated by its staff.
Recognising that opportunities to improve women’s health go much further beyond health and social care, both the PDA and NAWP have called on the government to take a multi-departmental approach, as there are other factors that impact on this important area. The Women’s Health Strategy also needs to look outside of gender, and seek to address other disparities, such as racial bias in healthcare provision which may have an impact on women of colour.
Fundamentally, the response highlights that pharmacists have a unique opportunity to open conversations with women through their practice and to make important and timely interventions. More could be done to formalise this and maximise the skills and opportunities that pharmacists have to widen access to healthcare for women resulting in improving health outcomes.
Naina Chotai, President of NAWP, said, “We welcome the opportunity to feed in evidence around the development of the Women’s Health Strategy and we will continue to highlight the role that pharmacists play across all settings in improving the health of the nation, including women. The PDA and NAWP hope that the government takes this opportunity to develop a sustainable and tangible strategy which will improve women’s health across all generations.”
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