King's College London

The Unit has published the final report from its study of Specialist Doctors. The aim of the study was to identify and examine the levers for the establishment of specialist doctor posts, the barriers that prevent their creation, and the ways in which these constraints might be overcome.

The team worked closely with the ‘Specialty, Associate Specialist and Specialist/SAS Deal Implementation Group’ on the development of the study, and the SAS Group provided background information as well as invaluable feedback on emerging findings and a draft version of the report.

Our findings

The study found that the number of specialist doctors was high among anaesthetists, but low within other medical fields. The main identified barriers were: uncertainty about criteria for progression, changing guidance on recruitment procedures, and the impact of the role on budgets.

Study participants suggested the following moves to improve this picture: an increase in national advice and guidance on the role in general and for medical specialisms; an enhancement of national standardisation in progression and eligibility criteria, and the introduction of consistent plans for bringing in the role, workforce planning, and budget codes for specialist doctors at trust level.

This project formed part of our responsive work under the Policy Research Unit contract with NIHR.

This publication

Steils, N., Purcell, C., Kessler, I., & Boaz, A. (2025) Research into creation of specialist doctors posts, London: NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce, The Policy Institute, King's College London. https://doi.org/10.18742/pub01-236