SP5.10 Under-representation of surgeons in senior leadership roles: implications for the development of surgical services in the UK

Aims This study describes the diversity of Medical Directors in England and assesses implications for surgical services in our hospitals Methods All 135 English NHS Trusts’ Medical Directors professional details were recorded from the GMC Register. Workforce statistics from NHS Digital and the IFS were used. Chi-squared tests were used to compare groups. Results There were significant differences in the demographic details of Medical Directors when compared to the wider consultant workforce (Table 1). Table 1.Demographic details of Medical Directors in EnglandVariableMedical Directors (n=135)NHS Consultant Workforce (N=57851)P-ValueGender<0.001Male96 (71%)34133 (59%)Female39 (29%)23718 (41%)Specialty<0.001Medicine56 (41%)14463 (25%)Anaesthetics19 (14%)8678 (15%)A&E12 (9%)2314 (4%)Surgery16 (12%)10992 (19%)Ethnicity<0.001White109 (81%)32397 (56%)Asian23 (17%)17355(30%)Black3 (2%)1736 (3%)University of Primary Medical Qualification<0.001UK119 (90%)35868 (62%)Non-UK14 (10%)21983 (38%)Mean length of time for Medical Directors from qualification was 32 years (range, 20-44). Conclusions There was a lack of diversity across Medical Directors, with some specialties (Medicine, A&E) more represented than expected. Surgery was under-represented. Medical Directors were more likely to be white and male than the wider NHS workforce and were predominantly in the final decade of clinical practice. Medical Directors currently are not representative of NHS consultants; this has implications for decision-making and understanding local population and workforce needs particularly when considering investment within surgical services.