Please scroll to the bottom of the page to download the census data toolkits. The three Royal Colleges of Physicians have conducted a census of consultant physicians for many decades. It provides us with rich data that help us understand the make-up and state of the medical workforce.
We want to make sure fellows and members can also make use of the data to understand what is happening in their specialty and region. As well as the key findings, we produce interactive census data toolkits that you can download.
Using the census data toolkits
The census data toolkit is interactive and features a comprehensive user guide that explains how to get the data you want. Census data can help you understand such things as:
- Number of consultants by specialty and nation
- Consultant workforce demographics by year and place of PMQ (primary medical qualification)
- National, regional and sub-regional populations vs numbers of full-time equivalent consultants
- Who are consultants employed by and what additional work do they do?
- Estimated numbers of consultants who practice in acute medicine, general internal medicine, or contribute to out-of-hours work
- Estimated numbers of consultants who practice less than full-time or work flexibly
- Types of roles undertaken by consultants with a commitment to leadership – and how much time they spend doing that role.
- What proportion of consultants work remotely? And do they have sufficient equipment and support to do so?
- Have consultants been able to take all their annual leave? How is their wellbeing? Are they at risk of burnout?
- Consultant vacancies and the main barriers to recruitment
- How consultants support physician associates and the reported benefits of working with physician associates
The census data toolkits are grouped into themes that cover areas of the census. They are designed with filters to interrogate the data. They logically progress from headline figures and into greater detail via graphs, and ultimately (in some cases) to tables. Filter criteria include: nation, region, sub-region, Trust/Health Board, sex, age-group, contract, specialty, acute/GIM commitment.
We think the latest version of the toolkit is the most user-friendly yet. If you have any comments or suggestions on how we can improve them, please contact MedicalWorkforce.Unit@rcp.ac.uk.