In our latest staff survey, 81.5% of colleagues told us they were female, and given the age profile of our workforce this means at any given time, we’d expect around a quarter of colleagues to be experiencing the menopause.

At Gateshead Health, one of the priorities for our health and wellbeing team is helping normalise the discussion of menopause – and increasing understanding about its impact. Below you can find a range of support available to you – just some of the ways we support those experiencing the menopause or peri-menopause – as well as those who are supporting someone experiencing it.

Common symptoms of menopause include in areas such as vasomotor – such as hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, palpitations and dizziness; psychological – such as anxiety, mood swings, irritability, brain fog and difficulty concentrating; the reproductive system – such as irregular periods, heavy bleeding, dry vagina, painful sex and low libido and systemic issues such as joint ache, fatigue, weight gain, headaches and dry skin/eyes.