Posted on: 12 October 2022
The Trust launches new guidance for staff today to offer support for those with Endometriosis and staff who wish to learn more about the condition and the support available to them, both within and outside of the Trust.
Krishna Talsania who is an assistant mental health practitioner at the Trust and developed the guidance for CNWL, and said
"This guidance is to raise the profile and awareness of an overlooked, misunderstood and very much invisible condition and to raise the voices of those who live with the condition, their everyday struggles in and outside the workplace and reassure and support them."
The journey to holding a final copy of the endometriosis guidance started in the summer of 2021 with a series of webinars to raise awareness on endometriosis from a biological and psychosocial perspective and its impact in the workplace. This led to conversations about the condition and the need for more guidance to ultimately encourage those diagnosed to seek out appropriate support.
The guidance will support managers in establishing an understanding of the condition and collaborative working relationships with colleagues within their teams who have the condition.
Krishna said, "The development of this guidance has introduced me to some extraordinary women who have demonstrated strength, determination, and resilience in the face of significant pain, discomfort, and challenges. While working with this patient group who are also our colleagues we work alongside, the invisibility of the condition became very apparent where these colleagues appear well and healthy, yet their suffering remains invisible and extreme to the workforce. I have come to realise that endometriosis is the loneliest condition to live and work with, where those with the condition struggling to understand and manage their symptoms due to the absence of knowledge or awareness not just in the workplace but in the wider community. This must change and producing this guidance is a positive step toward to a more informed understanding on endometriosis and a support system for all staff across the Trust.
"This guidance was not possible without the personal experiences of the endometriosis lived experience group. I want to extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the group for sharing their experiences, time, thoughts and for providing assistance over the last 18 months in the production of this much needed guidance. I appreciate your suport and assistance during the webinars, consultations and surveys and for contributing your most intimate and personal distress and difficulties in relation to this debilitating condition. Your contributions I will forever be grateful for, and this guidance is a celebration of a move towards better recognition and support of the condition in the workplace, for the equality you deserve and for your voice to be heard. I am in awe of your resilience and bravery. My deepest gratitude and appreciation to you all."
Maria O’Brien, Chief Nurse and Executive Sponsor of the Trust's Women's Network, said
“I fully endorse the new Endometriosis Guidance and I'm thankful to Krishna Talsania (Trainee Health Psychologist) for doing this work in the Trust. I would urge all colleagues, including management staff as well as those with Endometriosis to read and understand the guidance and utilise it in their respective teams. I have no doubt this guidance will contribute to raising the profile of an invisible and debilitating reproductive condition across the Trust."