Anaesthetic Workforce Census 2025 – Anaesthetists' Working Lives

The RCoA's Anaesthetists' Working Lives Census report provides a detailed examination of anaesthetists’ working lives. This includes their backgrounds, the sectors they work in, their working hours, their supervision arrangements, and a great deal more.

Download a copy of the report below
Download

Summary of key findings

The proportion of doctors who gained their primary medical qualification (PMQ) in the UK varies considerably by anaesthetic staff group. 93% of AiTs gained their PMQ in the UK, 80% of consultants, 56% of LEDs, and 41% of SAS doctors.

  • Across all anaesthetic staff, 99.0% work at least some of the time in the NHS and 79.6% work in the NHS exclusively.
  • 17.8% do at least some of their work in the independent sector, but only 0.7% do it exclusively – indicating a tiny purely independent sector workforce.
  • The anaesthetic workforce is mostly permanently employed, particularly consultants (93.7%) and SAS doctors (88.0%), with limited numbers on fixed-term or external/agency locum contracts.
  • In contrast, LEDs are predominantly employed on fixed-term contracts (81%), with only a small minority holding permanent roles (15%).
  • By staff group, autonomous SAS doctors had the highest average weekly programmed activity (PAs) total (11.9), followed by non-autonomous SAS (11.3) and consultants (11.0).
  • Across the UK, consultant PAs broke down as an average of 8.0 Direct Clinical Care (DCC), 2.6 Supporting Professional Activities (SPA), 0.6 additional NHS activities, and 0.2 agreed external duties.
  • Among autonomous SAS doctors, PAs broke down as an average of 9.6 DCC, 1.7 SPA, 0.6 additional NHS activities, and 0.1 agreed external duties.
  • Among non-autonomous SAS doctors, PAs broke down as an average of 9.3 DCC, 1.5 SPA, 0.5 additional NHS activities, and <0.1 agreed external duties. 
  • On average, Core Trainee (CT1-3) Anaesthetists in Training (AiTs) worked 46.5 hours on average per week
  • Specialty Trainees (ST4-5) 44.3 hours, ST6-7+ 43.8 hours, other AiTs 44.2 hours
  • Locally Employed Doctors (LEDs) worked on average 44.1 hours, and Physician Assistants in Anaesthesia (PAAs) 34.6 hours.
  • The vast majority of working time was devoted to DCC. For example, among CT1-3s, 44.1 hours (94.8%) were devoted to DCC, out of their total of 46.5 hours. 
  • Across all staff groups, 45% of cases on average were classed as low complexity (ASA 1–2) and 55% as high complexity (ASA 3+).
  • PAAs had the highest proportion of low complexity cases, with 61% of their caseload falling into this category.
  • Consultants had the highest proportion of high complexity cases, at 59%, followed by autonomous SAS doctors at 54%.