Job sharing in general practice

A questionnaire survey of 500 consecutive patients consulting their general practitioners was undertaken to compare job sharing part time partners and full time partners in respect of patients' perception of and satisfaction with the availability of the doctor they wished to consult. Comparison of linear analogue scales of patients' satisfaction with the availability of their chosen doctor showed no significant difference between job sharing partners and full time partners. Nevertheless, significantly fewer patients were able to see the full time partner of their choice within two days than were able to see the job sharing partner of their choice within the same period. In this study patients were as satisfied with the availability of job sharing partners as they were with that of full time partners; the findings highlight important considerations for practices wishing to appoint partners with a limited commitment.