Our Immediate Past President, Professor Scarlett McNally was awarded an OBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours List for services to Medicine, Surgery and the NHS. In her latest BMJ column she explains: “it wasn’t until I was president of the Medical Women’s Federation that I realised how, as a surgeon, I’d been treated with the authority of a male doctor for 30 years. We must do more to value the untapped potential of the 50% of licensed doctors who are women….Many of them, especially resident doctors, are silently struggling or leaving the workforce owing to inflexible work environments, pregnancies, childcare, and being seen as replaceable.”
MWF member Dame Suzy Lishman, who has been instrumental in improving patient safety and introducing the national medical examiner service, was awarded a Damehood in the King’s New Year’s Honours List.
Many of MWF’s communications with members take place online. A monthly webinar ‘In Conversation With…’ a prominent person in UK healthcare is proving popular (see www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk), regular Substack articles on subjects of interest to women doctors are published, and there are various active WhatsApp groups. Times have certainly changed from when meetings, including Council and Officer meetings were regularly face-to-face!
The MWF Spring Conference is taking place on 7-8 May 2026 in Coventry, with the theme ‘Women in Leadership”. You are very welcome to attend. To use our online booking form Click here.