gms | German Medical Science

68th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)
7th Joint Meeting with the British Neurosurgical Society (SBNS)

German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)

14 - 17 May 2017, Magdeburg

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UK survey on parental leave among neurosurgeons: have we got the balance right?

Meeting Abstract

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  • Jebet Beverly Cheserem - St George’s Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom
  • Ruth-Mary Desouza - King’s College Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom
  • Jordan Lam - King’s College Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom
  • Meriem Amarouche - King’s College Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom
  • Samantha Hettige - King’s College Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom
  • Matthew Crocker - King’s College Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. Society of British Neurological Surgeons. 68. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC), 7. Joint Meeting mit der Society of British Neurological Surgeons (SBNS). Magdeburg, 14.-17.05.2017. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2017. DocMi.24.02

doi: 10.3205/17dgnc528, urn:nbn:de:0183-17dgnc5288

Published: June 9, 2017

© 2017 Cheserem et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

Text

Objectives: Shared Parental Leave (SPL) policy allows parents to share up to 52 weeks of leave. Facilitation of return to work post-maternity and utilisation of paternity leave remain variable with no data published on parental leave amongst neurosurgical trainees in the UK

Methods: An online anonymised survey of neurosurgical doctors in the UK was performed. The questions established the stage of training at which parental leave was taken, available support upon return to work, consideration of job share or part time employment and suggestions to improve implementation of SPL policy within the demands of a neurosurgical career.

Results: 44/81 (54%) respondents were parents (8 female, 36 male) of which all mothers and 27/35 (77%) fathers took parental leave. 4/7 mothers and 10/27 fathers would consider shared parental leave in the future. 8/27 fathers and 2/7 mothers would job share. 6/7 mothers were offered no support for return to work. A recurring concern was decline in surgical skills

Conclusions: Our results suggest limited support is available for neurosurgeons taking parental leave. Potential improvements as suggested by respondents include cultural acceptance and facilitation of job sharing or part time work, staged return, mentorship, choice of rotation location and accrual of annual leave. Open discussion is needed in order to offer options that balance the rigorous standards required to become a competent neurosurgeon with the realities of family life in line with other surgical specialties and other countries.