The consultant. Part 2.

Edie Stark investigates the role of the consultant in hospitals. Some scandals about surgeons have undermined their elite status, so they can feel 'hunted' by the media. Patients have far more power over decisions than in the past, for example, one woman, given more information about her blood, could not decide whether to have a caesarian or not, and held up the whole hospital surgery team. There is considerable conservatism about surgeons - it is a bit like public school, army mess room - and few women become surgeons. A discussion follows on the numbers of women surgeons, and the prejudice against them.