Female doctors outnumber male peers in UK for first time

Female doctors in the UK now outnumber their male peers and there are more medics from an ethnic minority background than white ones, new figures show.

Both major changes in the make-up of Britain’s almost 330,000-strong medical workforce are outlined in an analysis released on Thursday by the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates the profession.

The number of women practising medicine surpassing the number of men for the first time has been hailed as “a milestone”, given the profession has traditionally been male-dominated. The shift should make it easier for female patients to see and be treated by a doctor of their own sex.

GMC figures show that on 28 February, 164,440 female doctors were licensed to practise medicine across the four home nations, 245 more than the 164,195 male medics on its register. That means that women make up a slight majority – 50.04% – of the country’s doctors and men, 49.96%.

It represents an astonishing change from the situation that existed in 1858, when Britain’s first medical register was created. It contained just one female doctor – Elizabeth Blackwell from the US – because no British woman in the country had acquired the necessary degree in medicine to be included.

“Medicine has historically been a male-dominated profession. In order to earn their rightful place within it women have endured bias, harassment, lower pay and often made huge sacrifices within their maternal and family lives. So this is indeed a day to celebrate,” said Dr Claudia Paoloni, a consultant anaesthetist who is the vice-president of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA).

“This is a significant milestone,” said Prof Dame Carrie MacEwen, the chair of the GMC, who is a consultant ophthalmologist. “The demographics of the medical workforce are rapidly changing and that diversity will benefit patients,” she added, in a reference to the fact that 50.7% of the UK’s population are female.

The first British female doctor, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, did not join the medical register until 1865. Talks with Blackwell convinced the mould-breaking medic and suffragette to overcome opposition from within the profession and become a doctor.

Register staff refused to recognise her degree, which she obtained in Paris after being rejected by British medical schools. Women finally became eligible to join the profession in 1876.

Female doctors outnumber male ones by the widest margins in obstetrics and gynaecology, where they make up 63% of the workforce, paediatrics (61%) and general practice (58%). However, they are a minority in surgery (17%), ophthalmology (35%) and emergency medicine (37%).

Leading female doctors warned that, despite a dramatic advance over time, medics who are women still face an array of challenges to their progress in the profession, including unequal pay, sexual harassment, lack of childcare and an inability to work flexibly when they have a child.

“What is essential now is to confront the continued sexual harassment we see in the NHS. We need to finally address the gender pay gap through proactive measures rather than just waiting for the continued decline in male numbers to leave the playing field. And we need measures to enable women to balance their family lives reasonably in addition to their careers,” said Paoloni.

An HCSA survey found that four in five female doctors had experienced sexual harassment – mainly perpetrated by colleagues – such as receiving comments about their appearance, dress or body, or unwanted physical touching or being told sexual stories or jokes.

The GMC first reported in November that the UK now has more ethnic minority doctors than white ones. The number of those from an ethnic minority jumped by 78% between 2016 and 2023 – almost eight times higher than the 10% rise in white doctors.

In the years since the UK voted to leave the EU in June 2016 there has been a huge increase in the number of doctors coming to work in the UK from India, Pakistan, Egypt and Nigeria.

Dr Latifa Patel, the chair of the British Medical Association’s representative body, said the profession and NHS needed to understand why so few female doctors go into certain fields, such as surgery.

“These disparities are not acceptable for career progression, or for patient care, as all patients should be able to benefit from the skills and expertise of a female doctor as well as a male one.”