I have been working in parliament for more than a year now and it is a workplace like no other. Over the months I have tried to use every parliamentary function possible to represent my constituents, with a priority to support the needs of the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Whether it is entering a lottery to ask a parliamentary question, waiting fruitlessly in the House of Commons for three hours to speak, listening to the braying and bullying behaviour of certain members in the chamber, or running around the parliamentary estate to ask colleagues to sign up to different motions, the systems of this palace do a disservice to our constituents. So when people ask me what it’s like working in parliament, I say: “It’s 80% pantomime.” But I’m well aware that it is also the source of legislation, and this is both important, and at times bruising, particularly when voting is expected to be close.

Ailing MP wheeled into Commons in pyjamas criticises Tory whips Read more

This was brought into sharp focus yesterday when three women MPs were dehumanised in the voting lobby of the so-called “cradle of democracy”. My colleague Naz Shah was forced to take a taxi from her Bradford constituency despite being in hospital since last Friday with serious nerve pain. She had to defy her doctor’s advice to do so, and physically get through the voting lobby in a wheelchair, carrying a sick bucket and dosed up on morphine because the Conservative whips refused to honour the “nodding through” process which normally allows ill MPs to miss votes if they can get themselves to the parliamentary estate.

Another colleague, Laura Pidcock, was forced to go through the lobby despite being heavily pregnant and suffering with serious back pain. Likewise the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, had to do the same despite being past her due date.

Let’s get real. This is 2018 and parliament is stuck in the 17th century. The “nodding through” process itself is hardly something to be proud of. If a MP is seriously ill they should not be dragged to the parliamentary estate so that their health can be ascertained by parliamentary whips. I would never wish to discredit their commitment, but why on earth are non-health professionals given the right to judge whether someone is ill or not?

We must question how these practices have become normalised and why they are never questioned. We urgently need reform, but we do not need to destroy tradition to achieve this. Many enjoy the pomp and ceremony of our parliament, the historic procession of the Speaker and the antiquity of the role of staff members such as Black Rod.

MPs are currently considering whether new parents should be able to vote by proxy. This is a welcome step but it simply does not go far enough. Voting and other procedures should be updated, and the barracking of members, which the public view with contempt, should be tempered. Women should be respected in their workplace, not subjected to the inhumanity which we witnessed yesterday. What example do we set for the world of work when we treat colleagues like this?

I am calling for a thorough review of parliament’s outdated structures, with a view to reforming practices that should not be allowed in a modern workplace. Why should we not debate whether MPs should vote electronically so that they can spend more time in their constituencies? Why should we not discuss a better way of organising parliamentary question times so that more backbenchers can raise their questions? If parliament is truly the “cradle of democracy”, we must resolve to never allow yesterday’s flagrant abuse to occur again. It is time that we made this place a vibrant and representative hub of democracy that our constituents can actually connect with.

• Emma Dent Coad is Labour MP for Kensington