Less than full time working beyond parenting: the increasing number of doctors going LTFT for wellbeing reasons

Sam Naushahi is absolutely clear that he wouldn’t still be working as a general practice registrar if he hadn’t been able to cut down his hours from full time. About 18 months ago, the 36 year old dropped to 80% of a full time post at his practice in Yorkshire, which means that he has every Monday off. He still works what many people outside medicine would consider full time hours, at around 38 hours a week, but the shift has helped him grasp a better work-life balance.

“I would never go back to full time,” he says. “I have a long weekend every week and it has absolutely revolutionised my life. I get to spend more time doing what I like to do outside of medicine, like seeing friends and travelling, which I just wasn’t able to do previously. Weekends were just catching up on sleep and chores, then going back to work.” Naushahi doesn’t have children and went less than full time (LTFT) to protect his mental health after realising he was burning out. After cutting his hours, he received a diagnosis of cancer, for which he receives ongoing care.

Naushahi’s decision to reduce his hours was made before his diagnosis, but that did emphasise “the importance of looking after yourself and the importance of close family and friends.” He thinks that his patients receive better care from him thanks to this arrangement. “When I am with patients, I am fresher, and I feel I am a better doctor,” he says. Naushahi is part of a growing trend of doctors seizing the opportunity to go LTFT to boost their …