LEADING doctors slammed a retired surgeon today for making sexist remarks about women in medicine on live radio.

Dr Meirion Thomas, former professor of surgical oncology at Imperial College, referred to the increasing number of female doctors in the workforce as problematic.

“The fact of life is, of course, women have got to have babies,” he told Times Radio.

“They’ve got to have time to bring up their children.

“They work part-time and they job share, and at the end of the day, we have to educate two women to get one full-time equivalent.”

He went on to say that “in general practice, most of the women are working part-time and that is one of the reasons why patients cannot get access to the same GP all the time.”

Research published last year by the University of Manchester indicated that the fall in full-time equivalent GPs was driven by male doctors reducing their working hours.

A report published by the General Medical Council suggested that doctors were reducing their working hours amid workload and capacity pressures.

Dr Sarah Jacques, co-opted member for campaigns at the Medical Women’s Federation and GP Lead at Doctors Association UK (DAUK), said: “Dr Thomas’s remarks are not only outdated and offensive — they are dangerous.

“Denigrating women in the workplace, especially in public forums, helps legitimise a culture in which sexism is normalised and abuse is more likely to occur.”

DAUK co-chairman Dr Matt Kneale said: “Blaming maternity leave and part-time hours for NHS pressures is a smokescreen that distracts from the real issues of chronic underfunding, brutal rotas and virtually zero support.

“We should be striving to tear down barriers, not slamming the door in women’s faces.”