With a new intake of junior doctors now joining the ranks of NHS Scotland, it’s an opportunity to welcome positive progress and the expansion of an ever-more innovation-ready workforce at an important time.
As we continue the pivotal transformation and renewal process, it’s also pleasing to note data indicating that the face of the country’s hard-working healthcare staff is ever more balanced and inclusive.
According to the General Medical Council (GMC) Workforce Report 2022 published last year, 47.5% of registered doctors were recorded as female - a significant increase on the 38% figure noted in 2008 - with 37.6% of consultants comprising women.
It further noted that our NHS workforce in Scotland boasts the highest proportion of female doctors across the UK at a total of 53%: a positive development which could mean that health inequalities still being experienced by women are better understood and more quickly addressed.
Records levels of investment are set to see an additional 153 trainee doctor posts available this year, thought to be the largest annual expansion on record.
While it undoubtedly remains a challenging time for the profession, taken together, such figures show a strong desire and determination to address problems at grassroots level, get the workforce balance right, and meet changing demands across a wide range of specialties and general practice.
Now, as we welcome fresh thinking from junior doctors who have already been immersed in innovation-inspiring education, we must be ready to harness the promise which that holds.
With new healthcare breakthroughs happening all the time, junior doctors are arguably best placed to fully exploit their opportunities as we build towards a more sustainable health service where staff feel empowered.
In such an environment, innovation becomes the lifeblood of long-term transformation, allowing NHS Scotland to tap into the benefits of greater gender equality and more diverse backgrounds which can in turn offer rich new insights.
Simply bolstering the workforce with enthusiastic new staff is important of course, but junior doctors must also be given the right tools - both practical and educational - to continue to inform the direction of transformational travel.
First impressions can be telling. They can place existing issues in an entirely new light and junior doctors could be key to seeing those opportunities first for greater process efficiency.
Fundamentally, this is the ideal time to start turning junior doctors into Scotland’s innovation leaders of tomorrow and translating the latest groundbreaking academic thinking into clinical practice today for a healthier, more resilient society.
A formal NHS Scotland partner of 20 years, InnoScot Health values those new insights, helping entrepreneurial, forward-thinking innovators to get vital innovation into patients’ hands.
We’re proud to be part of a collaborative group of organisations supporting Scottish innovators taking part in the NHS Clinical Entrepreneurs Programme (CEP) which is open to junior and early career doctors to apply from 1 October.
InnoScot Health firmly believes that a new generation’s limitless mindset can become synonymous with the breaking of glass ceilings for widespread health and social care benefit.
Gillian Henderson is Head of Project Management at InnoScot Health
Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk
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