Just one in three PCN clinical directors are women

Only 33% of PCN clinical directors (CDs) are women, according to NHS England statistics.

Out of 999 PCN GP CDs (headcount), 330 were women, as of February 2024 PCN workforce figures.

When including nurse CDs and direct patient care CDs, the figure was slightly higher at 35%, with 380 out of 1,083 roles filled by women.

A former PCN CD in Streatham, Dr Emma Rowley-Conwy, said the reason for the disparity is partly due to the extra hours of leadership roles and the lower pay compared to clinical work.

‘Teams or Zoom makes it easier, but colleagues have done meetings on the school run on their mobile – not everyone can cope with this level of stress from juggling demands,’ she said.  

‘I am sure this puts a lot of women off. And women still have the bulk of responsibility for childcare.’ 

She added: ‘A lot of things are unpredictable and not all meetings can be scheduled well in advance, so there is inevitably the need to work weekends and evenings outside core hours.  

‘The pay for leadership is substantially less than the pay for clinical work. So financially taking on more responsibility is a really bad decision.’  

The lack of representation might also be because a lot of GPs ‘don’t feel confident’ or are ‘not interested’ in leadership roles. Some want to focus on clinical work and there often isn’t training for the roles, she said.

On her role as a clinical director at North Halifax PCN, West Yorkshire, Dr Geetha Chandrasekaran said: ‘For me, work life balance plays a big factor in my career. I would never have thought about doing this earlier as I knew I wanted to be there for my kids and these roles can be time consuming.

‘I think we can encourage more women to become clinical directors by ensuring their voices are heard, setting up forums and making the role amenable to a good work life balance so we don’t have to choose between one or the other.’

In response to the figures for female representation at PCN level, NHS England’s primary care director Dr Amanda Doyle said: ‘Over half of GPs are now women, and we are committed to working alongside PCNs and stakeholders to ensure that they have equal access to leadership roles within the NHS.’