NHS celebrates the vital role of women during the pandemic on International Women’s Day

THE NHS on Monday (8) celebrated the vital role that hundreds of thousands of women have played in the pandemic effort across the service, to mark the International Women’s Day.

It hosted a conference on Monday, led by chief people officer Prerana Issar who will be joined by leading women from across the organisation, a statement said.

More than three quarters (76.7 per cent) of the 1.3 million members of NHS staff made up of women, including chief commercial officer Dr Emily Lawson and medical director of primary care Dr Nikki Kanani.

Dr Lawson said: “I could not be prouder of all that we have achieved collectively over the past year, with many thousands of my colleagues who are women forming the driving force of the vaccination rollout.

“When you think about the host of Covid heroes, so many women spring to mind – from May Parsons who administered the first jab to Nikki Kanani leading the way in primary care and encouraging uptake in BAME communities. While the last year has been the toughest in most of our lives, it has never been a prouder time to be a woman working in the NHS.”

Around 88.6 per cent of the 342,104 nurses and health visitors in the NHS are women. Besides, 77.6 per cent of scientific, therapeutic and technical staff of the service are women. They also constitute 42.5 per cent of the ambulance staff and 62 per cent of managers, the NHS said.

Dr Kanani said: “I have continued to work as a general practitioner throughout the pandemic but have also used my role as NHS England medical director of primary care to navigate practices across England through a rapid change, from almost entirely face-to-face work, to almost completely digital and remote work.

“It has presented a host of challenges to family doctors and their teams, who have stepped up and adapted to the change while also more recently being a core part of the largest vaccination programme in NHS history.

“Like my colleagues, I have been helping to vaccinate the most vulnerable, and last month I launched the NHS blueprint to increase vaccine confidence, which has become a hugely important part of our roll out."

NHS chief people officer, Issar said: “As the largest employer of women in Europe, with more than one million amazing women working across every profession and discipline in health and care, the NHS has a vital role to play in the global effort to build a more equal and sustainable future.

"It is vital that we all take the time to reflect on the past year and our role in the NHS’ response to the pandemic. Which is why, this International Women’s Day, I am co-hosting the largest gathering of women in health and care in the history of the NHS.”