General medicine and related medical specialties--consultant survey 1991.

A census of all consultant physicians in England and Wales was carried out on 2 January 1991 by the Royal College of Physicians of London. The total number, 3,573, agreed closely (97%) with the numbers known to the Department of Health (DoH). Of this total, 1,352 were general physicians. Their commonest specialty interests were cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, and thoracic medicine; one-sixth of the geriatricians held posts with some general medical component. In all specialties there is a bulge in the number of consultants aged 40-50. This will lead to a substantial increase in the number of vacancies in the early part of the next century, and will need careful manpower planning. The proportion of women consultants in medical specialties, with perhaps the exception of dermatology, haematology, and geriatric medicine, remains low at 13%. An adequate 'safety net' of junior staff for the care of adult emergencies was present in most main district hospitals at the time of this census.