Job sharing at a children's hospital: Evaluation by medical staff

Objective - To evaluate job sharing for registrars at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, by seeking responses from members of the relevant medical teams. Design - A questionnaire was sent to all 126 medical staff within the hospital (and three managers in medical administration) asking their views on job sharing for registrars. Outcome measures - Whether job sharing should continue, who should do it, at what stage of training, and the effects on patient care. Results - Among the 77 respondents (60%) there was broad support for the continuation of job sharing at the hospital: only 5 of 37 consultants and 2 of 19 non-job sharing registrars rejected the idea (with a further 4 consultants uncertain). 43% of the consultants who had worked with job sharing registrars thought continuity of care was adversely affected. Conclusion - The committee for physician training of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians emphasises that advanced training should be flexible, with a wide range of opportunities for individuals to plan an appropriate training programme in line with their personal goals. This study has shown that job sharing for registrars at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children allows this choice. Action on concerns over any adverse effects on patient care should resolve any persisting disquiet.