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Press release: NHS Employers' response to the Women and Work Commission report, Shaping a Fairer Future27 Feb 2006 In response to the Women and Work Commission report, NHS Employers director Steve Barnett said: 'As the largest employer in the UK with more than 1.3 million staff, the NHS leads the way with the promotion of equality and diversity amongst its workforce. More than 70 per cent of the NHS workforce are women and among non-medical staff this figure rises to 82 per cent. The future medical workforce is likely to be made up of more women as the majority of medical schools now have a female/male intake of around 60:40 and this is set to increase. Flexible working practices, including job sharing and part-time/term-time and annual hours contracts have been adopted with widespread success in the NHS and the benefits in terms of retention, productivity and improved morale are significant. The new NHS pay system, Agenda for Change delivers equal pay for equal value and encourages the end of any occupational segregation which might still exist. NHS organisations have made significant progress in recent years however there is still more to be done and the proposals in today's report from the Women and Work Commission will support what we are trying to achieve. In particular they will feed into work we are currently doing with employers to ensure they are ready for the introduction of the new gender equality duty which comes into effect next year.'
Notes for editorsThe NHS has done much in recent years to promote gender equality through: * the introduction and mainstreaming of comprehensive equality and diversity policies; Contact detailsThe press office provides a comprehensive service to keep journalists informed about the work of NHS Employers. If you have a media enquiry, please contact the press office team:
For out of hours media enquiries, please contact the duty press officer on 07880 500726. Last reviewed 27 Feb 2006 |
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