In surgery, as in flying, it is possible to train people to do two or three things very well indeed. With pressures towards ever increasing specialisation they may never do anything else, and have a CMG and a vast reputation at the end of their career.
Naturally, it is possible to train them to do these two or three things quite quickly. New Consultants now have about the same age and experience as the newly appointed Senior Registrar of old. The demand for perfect results has led to early superspecialisation (read automation if you will).
The difference is that previously, Senior Registrars would have five or more years experience before getting a Consultant appointment. When a young Consultant today meets an unexpected situation s/he is far less likely to be able to deal with it adequately than the Consultants of old.