A recent study assessed the workloads of 7236 male consultants and 1048 female consultants in the 10 most common specialties using data from the hospital episode statistics for England 2004-5.1 It found that, on average, male consultants completed 160 more episodes of care each year than their female colleagues. More women graduate from medicine than men, and the authors suggest that their finding could have financial implications beyond those of maternity leave. The authors point out possible flaws in the study, however, such as the accuracy and validity of the underlying hospital data. For example, if consultants work in teams, coders might allocate work to the most senior consultant in the team, who is more likely to be a man. Also, activities …