HL Deb 18 November 2004 vol 666 cc217-8WA
Lord Harrison

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many of the 5,200 consultant surgeons in England and Wales are women; and [HL4801]

What steps they will take to encourage women to train as surgical specialists; and when they expect numbers to attain equality with men. [HL4802]

Lord Warner

As at June 2004, there were 5,698 consultant surgeons working in the National Health Service in England, of which 406 were female. Information relating to Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly.

Since 1991, the Department of Health has continued to fund and support the work of the Royal College of Surgeons to promote surgery as a career to women, among school-age girls and female medical students.

Through the Royal College's Women in Surgical Training (WIST) initiative, it offers free membership to over 1,700 members ranging from medical students to consultants and provides a range of support to female surgeons and potential surgeons, including mentoring. More recently, WIST has extended to promoting Improving Working Lives initiatives; for example, the Flexible Careers Scheme which enables doctors to return to work after a career break to work flexibly. All these measures are supporting women in taking up surgical specialties.

While the number of female surgeons working in England has increased by 221 or 119 per cent between September 1997 and June 2004, no estimate has been made of when the number of female surgeons might equal that of their male counterparts.