Dr. Louise Newson

We've all seen arrogant consultants who don't want to learn from others.

And I think we can always learn from others.

Yeah.

Yeah, totally.

And I think that's probably why I'm even more gobby because if I wasn't taking hormones, I wouldn't be working.

There's no shadow doubt my brain had just not worked.

And in fact, one of my husband's colleagues just been off for two weeks with flu, like really bad flu.

And he's not been ill.

He's not had time off at all.

And Paul said to me, oh, he's come back and he's just said it's the first day his brain's felt clear.

And I said, that's just like being menopausal.

That brain fog is so horrid.

And it's so hard when you need your brain, you know, and you don't know until it happens, of course.

But it's also, you know, again, it's about choice.

And that's where I think, you know, our work of empowering our patients and following them on a journey and involving others, you know, who are allied healthcare professionals is crucially important.

It's a long way to go, yeah.

I mean, I remember about 10 years ago when Dame Sally Davis was the CMO, the chief medical officer, and going to a meeting at the Department of Health.

And saying then, you know, 40% of NHS employees are menopausal women.

We know around 10% give up their jobs.

We did a survey and found that 37% of women were going to their jobs but not enjoying it.