During February there was a flurry of media activity around the programme Kirsty Wark presented on BBC Scotland about the menopause. I was interviewed alongside Kirsty on the Victoria Derbyshire programme the day before transmission and later in the day on Radio 5 live Drive.
The reaction both live in the studio and after transmission confirmed everything that women tell me every day in one to one consultations, that we still have a very long way to go in providing consistent, quality information, advice and support for women at menopause. Several women, some of whom were very emotional, contacted me on my journey home from the BBC to share their own stories.
On the 19th of February I wrote to our current Minister for Women and Equalities the Rt Hon Justine Greening MP asking what she was doing to address this issue. (the full email follows.)
Now I realise that Justine Greening is a busy woman but she is Minister for Women so I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I received the following response yesterday.
Dear Ms Danzebrink,
Thank you for your correspondence of 19 February to Justine Greening about the menopause. As this matter is health-related, your correspondence has been passed to the Department of Health and I have been asked to reply.
Women who experience menopausal symptoms that are difficult for them to manage receive support and advice from their GP. GPs can advise on treatments, suggest lifestyle changes and refer women to menopause specialists.
To help ensure women receive the best possible care, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of menopause in November 2015. This sets out the support, information and treatments needed to address the often debilitating symptoms that women suffer.
To raise awareness of the menopause among women and their families, trusted, evidence-based information is available on the NHS Choices website at:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Menopause/Pages/Introduction.aspx
This includes an overview of what the menopause is, what the symptoms and treatment options are and real life examples of women’s experiences.
I hope this reply is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Bellman
Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries
Department of Health
That reply tells me that nobody bothered to actually read the original email properly, so thanks, Mary for pointing out to somebody who has experienced surgical menopause, has specialist nurse training in menopause and supports menopausal women every day that it’s a health related issue.
I am sorry to say that many women don’t receive support and advice from their GP and menopause specialist services are being cut all the time. Had you bothered to check, you would know I was involved in the media coverage around the publication of the NICE guidelines and guidelines are not worth the paper they are written on until they are implemented. So in short, no, your reply is not helpful but as it was sent from a ‘do not reply’ email address I can’t tell you that personally.
So, Justine Greening: I have now written to you again to ask you to reply to my original question, what are you as Minister for Women and Equalities doing in this area. As I have said in my letter, please don’t pass me on for another derisory reply from another department. Take me up on my original request to meet with you to discuss this issue in person. I look forward to your reply.
Here is my original letter:
Dear Justine
My name is Diane Danzebrink and I run a service called Menopause Support which offers women who are struggling with their symptoms information, advice and support. I am also the lay media spokesperson for the RCOG and an ambassador for the BMS. My own experience of surgical menopause made me realise how little support is available and I have since attended the nurse training on menopause provided in conjunction with the BMS.
As you may have seen there has been quite a lot of media attention around the programme that Kirsty Wark has made for BBC Scotland including interviews on the Victoria Derbyshire programme last Thursday, which I was involved in. I have attached the links if you have not seen the programmes.
I speak to women every day of every week who are struggling with mental, emotional and physical symptoms. Many of these women are finding their doctors ill equipped to help them and some are simply dismissive. Women are also having to leave jobs and careers that they have worked a lifetime to create due to a lack of understanding and support.
I would like to know what you as Minister for Women and Equalities are doing to address these issues? I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you in person in London
I look forward to your reply
Kind Regards,
Diane Danzebrink
Menopause Support