Gender balance in an unprecedented time

As the NHS responds to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the strain is being felt across the entire workforce. Both direct effects of COVID-19 and the response to the crisis are unearthing a number of societal inequalities, not least, those relating to gender. The fact that women play a disproportionate role in frontline health and social care roles and perform the majority of caregiving responsibilities is more exposed than ever before. Concurrently, the underrepresentation of women in senior clinical and leadership roles is being brought into stark relief. Redressing gender imbalance across health and social care is vital if we are to translate experience and learnings from our frontline workforce into our national preparedness and response effort. It is also important as we continue to promote wider gender and health equity goals within society. While we focus on responding to the current situation, an opportunity arises for greater value to be assigned to frontline health and caregiver roles. We must raise the profile of women leaders who are taking a stand during this crisis and use this opportunity to ensure that our future health and social care leadership reflects the wider workforce and the population.