Women will ‘quickly’ make up nearly all of medical doctors in UK, says medical regulator
Women doctors in Britain are set to outnumber their male counterparts, the profession’s regulator predicts.
A General Medical Council report reveals that the workforce is close to reaching ‘parity’ between male and female medics.
Some 49 per cent of licensed doctors in the UK last year were women and the profession is ‘likely’ to become ‘majority female soon’, the report said.
There are also now more doctors from an ethnic minority background on the register than white doctors.
A slightly larger proportion of new joiners in 2023 were women (52 per cent), while men accounted for a higher rate of those leaving (54 per cent).
From 2019 to 2023, Wales had the highest growth in female doctors at 26 per cent, followed by England with 23 per cent, Northern Ireland (18 per cent) and Scotland (14 per cent).
The medical student intake grew slightly in 2023, the report said, with women accounting for 60 per cent of students.
The GMC report says: ‘The gradual shift towards gender parity in the doctor workforce has continued.
Some 49 per cent of licensed doctors in the UK last year were women and the profession is ‘likely’ to become ‘majority female soon’ (file image)
‘In the coming years it is likely that the balance will shift further and there will be slightly more female than male doctors.’
It adds: ‘It is imperative that any forms of discrimination or unfairness in doctors’ working lives are uncovered, confronted, and removed to ensure all doctors are able to reach their full potential. All parties have a role to play in this.’
Between 2022 and 2023, the number of licensed doctors grew at the fastest rate since GMC records started in 2011.
The 6 per cent increase was more than double the average year-on-year growth since 2011 (2.6 per cent), which the GMC said was ‘driven by joiners from abroad taking up locally employed roles’.
Locally employed doctors work for trusts on local contracts in non-training, and usually non-permanent roles, with no nationally agreed terms and conditions.
In England and Wales, the number of locally employed doctors increased by 75 per cent between 2019 and 2023 from 21,000 to 36,831.
Locally employed doctors work for trusts on local contracts in non-training, and usually non-permanent roles, with no nationally agreed terms and conditions (file image)
The proportion of doctors leaving the profession in the UK is stable at 4 per cent, the GMC said, although it warned there ‘are signs more doctors intend to leave in the future’.
The top reason for leaving was the desire to practise abroad, with Australia remaining the most popular destination.
Suzie Bailey, of The King’s Fund think-tank, said: ‘It is encouraging that the number of doctors on the register has been growing at the fastest speed in the past decade.
‘It is also clear that hiring new doctors on its own is not enough, there needs to be adequate training and support in place, all of which can be in short supply in a stretched healthcare system.’
