The need for a diverse workforce
It is understood that in healthcare having a diverse workforce that reflects the population they care for can have better outcomes for patients, improve staff retention, and can positively improve staff morale.
Traditionally, medicine has been a career dominated by those from socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds.1 Despite this, there have been progressive changes in this stereotype in recent times – for the last 25 years more than 50% of medical students have been female, and in 2017 59% of those accepted into medical school were women.2 In contrast to this, there is currently a disproportionately low number of doctors who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Data from 2015 shows that only 14% of new medical students were from lower socioeconomic groups, yet these groups represent 56% of the population.3,4 The RCoA has pledged to develop equality, diversity, and inclusion within the specialty of anaesthesia.