Letter

Where’s the benefit?

Dear healthmatters -- We would like to bring to your readers’ attention the situation regarding maternity entitlements for those women doctors who are in, or have completed, a training scheme for general practice.

At present, no maternity leave is given if the scheme is finished and the doctor has not yet entered a partnership. Frequently women find themselves working in temporary posts before entering such a partnership. Even if, as is the case for one of us, such work has been consistent for a period of at least two years, still no benefit is payable -- and NHS posts of anything up to six years is not even taken into consideration.

We know there are many women who have found themselves in this situation. We would like to contact anyone who has suffered from this injustice, to develop ideas on how it can be tackled. We know that women in continuous employment in other spheres are entitled to full benefits, usually after two years, and we feel that something must be done to improve the position of women GP trainees.