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Flexible working: policies are supportive but culture and finances are not

Medical Women’s Federation, London, UK

Correspondence to:
Dr Helen Goodyear, Medical Women’s Federation, Tavistock House North, Tavistock Square, London WC1N 3JH, UK; helen.goodyear@btinternet.com

Keywords: flexible working; junior doctors; National Health Service; women

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

It was widely assumed that the "feminisation" of medicine would increase demand for flexible working practices.¹ Nearly 70% of medical students are female and by 2012 male doctors will be outnumbered. However, since 2004 the number of UK flexible trainees has remained consistent at 2000 and places on the flexible careers scheme (FCS) have disappeared. We now have a situation where there is an inverse correlation between the number of women entering medicine and flexible working.

It all started so promisingly 6 years ago when the National Health Service (NHS) Plan was launched, pledging its support for more flexible working patterns.^{2 3} This was followed by the Improving Working Lives standard in which NHS Employers committed to a host of policies and practices designed to help staff maintain a healthy balance between their work and outside commitments.⁴ As if to underline its significance to the future of workforce planning, the . . . [Full text of this article]