Times letters: Menopause and how employers can respond

Professor Geeta Nargund Senior NHS consultant and co-founder, Ginsburg Women’s Health Board
Sir, Better employer support for menopause must start with creating the right environment for women so they can access the support they need. Suggested practical measures such as workplace temperature control, flexible hours and working from home do not go far enough and must be informed and supported by workplace health policies and insurance.

Employees going through the menopause can struggle to ask for support. Our research shows that managers need training and guidance to lead comfortable conversations and signpost to support. This can include support provided by their company, such as health plans, which are a more affordable solution for an entire workforce than private medical insurance for the few.

Last year the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and Simplyhealth Health and Wellbeing at Work report found that 46 per cent offer provision for those experiencing menopause, compared with 30 per cent in 2022. But until all employers allow employees to request specific alterations to working patterns or environment, staff will struggle. Systemic culture change is needed alongside health support to ensure that everyone affected by the menopause can remain healthy, happy and therefore productive at work.
Claudia Nicholls
Chief customer officer, Simplyhealth

Sir, I spent most of my working life as a private caterer, mostly in the wedding industry. I have a very distinct memory of an overheated service tent on a hot day. I was suffering from severe menopausal hot flushes. I wonder what my team would have done if I’d excused myself to go find a quiet, cool area. There would not have been a moment to sit down. I think I can speak for the majority of menopausal woman in the hospitality sector when I say that sitting in an air-conditioned office in front of a screen doesn’t sound that bad.
Rebecca Reed
Penn, Bucks

Sir, While I have great sympathy for those suffering with the menopause, I asked my mother-in-law about her experience of it and she said: “I think I had it one day after lunch.”
Sheila Muir
Holcombe Rogus, Somerset

GCSE reform

Sir, There is a strong case for change in how we teach and assess 11 to 16-year-olds, as Jo Johnson argues (“GCSE reform is essential if we’re to help pupils flourish”, Comment, Feb 21). We need to improve English and maths provision, reduce the burden of assessment, evolve the curriculum for a rapidly changing world and enable universal access to the benefits of digital learning.

OCR has commissioned the former education secretary Charles Clarke to review 11 to 16 learning and assessment in precisely these areas. It’s essential that we build cross-party support for reform and put forward bold, pragmatic options for the next government. In schools and colleges there is a desire to find a better way. This enthusiasm needs support and resource, as the Times Education Commission showed.
Jill Duffy
Chief executive, OCR

Sir, Lord Johnson of Marylebone’s call for reform of GCSEs ought to be taken seriously but it seems fair to ask whether simply slimming down the content is enough. In most other countries there is no national system of testing at 16. Given the concern over mental health issues in students at that age, the government should ask itself why the UK is an outlier.
Graham Davies
Bogota, Colombia

Speaker’s future

Sir, If Sir Lindsay Hoyle were trying to be impartial, knowing the decision he was about to make might cause difficulties, he would have spoken to all party leaders before making it (“At breakfast, Speaker looked to be toast but he may yet survive”, Feb 23).

That it appears he did not seek their opinions suggests that he knew they would not consent and decided to go ahead regardless. One can only conclude therefore that his actions were indeed partisan. He should resign. He should then be required to submit to an inquiry to ascertain who said what to him, including any threats made. This might allow him some honour in his retirement.
Tim Lee
Everdon, Northants

Sir, Many years ago as a very junior employee I confessed to a stupid mistake. My boss said everyone made mistakes and that the sooner one admitted it, the sooner it could be addressed. Procedural complications aside, my impression is that Hoyle’s decision was made with the best of intentions. It quickly became apparent that it had been the wrong one and he immediately made a full, open and gracious apology. Those politicians who have been so critical would do well to remember his example when next they are tempted to issue a weasel-worded non-apology for their own misdemeanours. Susie Pover
London W5

Sir, The Speaker’s wish to protect MPs from terrorist attacks is creditable. His implied belief that terrorists will be dissuaded by procedural technicalities is not.
Gareth Howlett
Edinburgh

Horizon scandal

Sir, Nick Read, chief executive of the Post Office, argues that a substantial number of sub-postmasters’ convictions are sound because they did not rely on evidence from the discredited Horizon IT system. But an overwhelming body of evidence heard by the public inquiry has shown that the Post Office’s prosecution practices, including its perverted approach to disclosure, were so far from what law and justice require that none of its convictions should be considered safe.
Richard Joyner
Nottingham

Handling judges

Sir, Often the most disarming response to intemperate judges is to combine fortitude with humour (“Bullying is a systemic problem — we need to stamp it out”, Feb 22). When acting for an Irish farmer, Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC was pressed by a judge who said: “Surely, Mr Hall, your client must be familiar with the doctrine res ipsa loquitur?” Hall replied: “My Lord, on the remote hillside in Co Donegal where he lives, they speak of little else.”
Guy Morpuss KC
Farnham, Surrey

Charity at home

Sir, IBA Global’s tactics are unacceptable (“Fake tears and tricks of the charity fundraisers”, Feb 23). The British public are generous donors and anything that undermines trust is damaging. Charities underpin our national wellbeing and provide services for us all. We need charity.
Sir Stephen Bubb
Executive director Gradel Institute of Charity, Oxford

Sir, My late husband was mortified to learn that my response to doorstep requests for donations was, “My husband doesn’t allow me to do any business at the door”. He had to admit, however, that it worked.
The Revd Eileen Short
Manchester

Stillbirth certificate

Sir, At last we will have recognition that our baby existed (“NHS to issue baby loss certificates for stillbirths before 24 weeks”, Feb 22). When asked how many children I have had, I stop and think of the appropriate answer. Like many women I have lost a baby before birth, a person with a name we had imagined growing up, going to school and university, falling in love and living a happy life. Every woman recognises that they are the custodians and not the owners of their unborn child. Their loss is a hidden grief and I am glad that this certificate will help support parents.
Sue Eaton
London SW12

Sand eel ban

Sir, The prime minister’s intervention to prevent Danish and other EU fleets from fishing for sand eels in English waters is welcome (“Britain’s sand eels ban riles Danish fishermen”, Feb 23). Not only are sand eels a food source for sea birds, they sustain migratory salmon and sea trout. What was not mentioned in your piece is that the Danes, as well as using the eels for animal feed, until recently burnt them in power stations. This green Brexit dividend is to be welcomed.
Tim Blenkin
York

Hot wheels

Sir, My son’s Range Rover was recently stolen in south London. As well giving him a crime report number, the police advised him to check whether the car had a tracker, as thieves sometimes left stolen cars for a few days near by. If it is not retrieved they can safely assume it is not being tracked. My son walked the area without success in finding his car, but he did get a parking fine from it having been left a few hundred yards away.
Richard Williams
London SW14

Sir, I’m sure the police would have found Gary Bullard’s car (letter, Feb 23) quickly if he had added when reporting the theft: “I may have left my rifle and ammunition in the boot.”
Richard Madin
Buxton, Derby

Post Office Tower

Sir, Jonathan Morrison says that the revolving restaurant at the top of the Post Office Tower “never really reopened” after it was bombed by the IRA in 1971 (“Towering symbol to become a hotel”, Feb 22). I have a written record of my visit to the restaurant in December 1977. The restaurant was on the 57th floor, the lavatories on the 58th. On returning from the facilities, one had to search for one’s table as it was no longer where one had left it.
Alec Gallagher
Potton, Beds

Forgotten middle

Sir, With reference to the north-south divide (“Why the South now just ignores the North”, James Marriott, Feb 22 and letters, Feb 23), the great expanse of land in the USA between east and west coasts is often derisively referred to as “the flyover”. The Midlands is surely England’s equivalent — “the drive-through”?
Mart Ralph
Salisbury