As senior paediatricians move into the later stages of their career, their clinical workload, including out-of-hours working, can change. To better understand these changes, we are conducting a survey in spring 2026 of RCPCH members in the UK who are consultant paediatricians or SAS doctors and aged 55 years and over. The information we collected will inform retirement preparation and workforce and succession planning at both a local and national level.
Understanding later career workload among the paediatric workforce is vital when it comes to integrating retirement intentions into day-to-day working and future planning.
Our next workforce survey opened on 6 March 2026. We emailed RCPCH members aged 55 years and over for whom our records show are working as a consultant paediatrician or SAS doctor in the UK, with a link to a survey (on Microsoft Forms).
The survey explores out-of-hours working and numbers of professional activities worked, and to what extent the individuals have begun to, or are planning to, make changes to their workload.
The survey is now closed with our report to follow soon.