I've done all the supplements about the Queen's 90th. Happy birthday Ma'am.
Read the one on Dubai's future; surprisingly dodgy and the fact that for the first time in lifelong memory Saudi Arabia is raising cash on the money markets because the oil price has taken a dive. Well, well.
The Times had an insert that at any other time I might have just flicked through. Another list. This one was; The Top 50 Employers for Women. It was a cut and past job of facts and opinions.
'In five year's time equality should be business as usual.' 'Change attitudes at mid-level and you alter the entire culture...' 'Enlightened firms are championing shared parental leave...'
And an interesting snippet. Women tend to gather in the five 'C's. Caring, cashiering, catering, cleaning and clerical... not likely to please the Chief Nurse who I know has an altogether different set of five 'C's. Unfortunately I can't quite call them to mind.
I browsed the list of top companies for women. As the biggest employer of women in the UK and probably Europe, amongst the Barclays Bank, the British Army (yes, really) a rent-a-car company and IBM... I innocently expected to find the NHS.
Mark and Sparks, Microsoft, Nationwide but no NHS. HSBC, the Home Office but no health service. Even Pepsi and MI5. Not us. What has happen d to NHS HR professionals?
Why? Why is the employer of nearly a million women not on the list?
Dealing with pay gaps, whistleblowing, sexual harassment, all factors that have put the likes of Sky TV, Shell and Santander on the list, whilst the NHS struggles.
The work place should not be a battleground. It should not be a place where people come to struggle. It should be a place where people are valued, encouraged, celebrated and where they come to do their best.
The subtle micro-behaviours, how work is structured and allocated, the absence of leaders who will look around the room and ask; 'Where are the women?' They all count.
Where outdated attitudes exist in the workplace women learn to survive. Race, health, social class all factors that combine into a toxic environment.
The NHS' business is the business of caring, families, carers and kids. Not exclusively a female preserve but dominated by women. Our workforce predominately female. Is the NHS a female friendly employer? I think not.
Why do so many nurses resort to working for agencies? Ask, they will tell you; the money might be better but mainly it is about flexibility . They are able to work times that fit around family and caring commitments. It is becoming, increasingly, the answer from female doctors who are now poised to become the majority of the medical workforce.
It still amazes me that Trusts who employ thousands of women don't have a crèche and don't make it easy for Amazon and others to use Trusts as drop-off points for staff. Trusts who don't think about scheduling rotas that are family friendly. Trusts who don't use their local muscle to negotiate deals and discounts for staff.
For clinical staff whose ranks are majority female, the NHS is the dominant employer. A near 70 year monopoly has made the NHS lazy.
For an organisation whose managerial ranks see top jobs and key roles in the capable hands of women professionals I detect there may be more of a hint of; 'I had to struggle, why should I make it any easier for you?'
At last my flight is being called.
Final word; time for the NHS to call time on employment practices grounded in the 70's.