Updated joint framework for restoration of menopause services in response to COVID-19

The updated joint framework produced by the British Menopause Society (BMS) in collaboration with FSRH, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) provides guidance to clinical practitioners on the resumption of menopause services in the next phase of planned clinical services.

The update document covers guidance on the following: the impact of menopause on quality of life and women’s health, menopause services and menopause consultations, prescribing HRT and HRT shortages, unscheduled bleeding on HRT during the COVID-19 pandemic and menopause training.

We hope our members and, more broadly, commissioners, service providers and healthcare professionals find this guidance useful in informing high quality practice.

The provision of menopause services is essential not only for treating menopause symptoms, but also to optimise women’s health during the menopause transition and beyond, given that appropriate strategies promoted and instituted at midlife such as lifestyle, diet, exercise and hormonal therapies have significant primary prevention benefits including bone and cardiovascular health and may potentially have a protective effect on the impact of COVID-19.

The updated joint BMS/ RCOG/ RCN/ RCGP / FSRH framework for restoration of menopause services in response to COVID-19 is available here.