NHS Practitioner Health Wellbeing Podcast

Redefining Surgical Culture: Women, Leadership and Wellbeing with Dr Stella Vig

NHS Practitioner Health Season 1 Episode 1

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 36:15

In this episode, Dr Zaid Al-Najjar, Medical Director at NHS Practitioner Health, is joined by Prof. Stella Vig, a leading figure in UK surgery with over 30 years’ experience in the NHS. She is a vascular and general surgeon at Croydon University Hospital and holds national leadership roles as National Clinical Director for Elective Care and National Medical Director for Secondary Care.

This episode highlights a significant shift seen in Practitioner Health data. While few women surgeons sought support in the early years, recent figures show that more than half of surgeons accessing Practitioner Health are now women. Together, we explore what this tells us about the culture of surgery, the impact of COVID, and the realities of working in surgery as a woman today.

NHS Practitioner Health is a mental health and addiction service for health and care professionals who are unable to access confidential treatment from local services. 

Register with us today


Stay Connected:
Instagram: @nhs_prachealth
Threads: @nhs_prachealth
LinkedIn: NHS Practitioner Health
Facebook: NHS Practitioner Health
Bluesky: @nhsprachealth