Employers told they should give women time off work for screening
A third of women have put off cervical screening because of work commitments
Nearly a third of women admitted to having booked annual leave for their screenings
Companies are being urged to allow women time off to attend potentially life-saving screening appointments. The Lady Garden Foundation is calling on employers to grant all those eligible time off. The plea comes following research ahead of the start of Cervical Screening Awareness Week (19 – 24 June), where it was revealed that over a third of women said they've put off attending their cervical screenings due to work commitments.
The research, conducted by gynaecological cancer charity, the Lady Garden Foundation, also found that half of the women polled said they had felt pressured to prioritise work over personal health appointments, including cervical screenings.
Nearly a third of women admitted to having booked annual leave for their screenings, whilst 16% said their boss or workplace had insisted they book time off to attend their appointments. Nearly a third also claimed that their boss or workplace would not see their cervical screening as a good reason to be off work.
48% say companies should give paid time off to attend screenings, whilst more than three-quarters believe women should have a legal right. Despite more than 16 million British women over the age of 16 in employment, more than half of those surveyed said they were unaware of any policies or programmes in their workplace to support women to take time off to attend their cervical screening.
Jenny Halpern Prince MBE, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the Lady Garden Foundation, said, 'NHS England estimates that five million women currently aren't up to date with their cervical screenings[3]. Whilst it is so important for us to educate and empower women to attend these potentially life-saving screenings, employers have a huge role to play in enabling women to have the time off they need, whilst also normalising the conversation in the workplace. This is evident in the fact that our research told us 60% of women believed more open workplace conversations would encourage them to attend. Our Public Cervix Announcement is about recognising the vital role employers play and encouraging them to get to work on supporting the health of women in their business'.
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Cervical cancer is most commonly diagnosed in women between 30-34 years old, however, it can occur at any age, with early detection being key. In 2023-24, 5.12 million women in England aged between 25-64 were due a cervical cancer screening, only 3.25 million women were tested – 99.8% of cases are preventable if women regularly attend their screenings and are HPV vaccinated.
The Lady Garden Foundation has created two 'Public Cervix Announcement' guides, one for employers and one for employees.The guides can be downloaded from the Lady Garden Foundation website.
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