What impact will the 'conversion' of two district general hospitals into 'teaching hospitals' have on doctors, medical students and patients? Views from the field

AIM: To gather opinions from a variety of healthcare professionals in Birmingham and the Black Country as to the potential impact of 'converting' 2 district general hospitals into teaching hospitals. METHODS: Thirty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals including Directors of Public Health, Community Health Council Chief Officers, Trust Chief Executives, medical directors, trust managerial and consultant staff, junior doctors and nurses. Interviewees were asked to outline what they felt the major impacts of the 'conversion' to teaching status were likely to be. RESULTS: Five main thematic areas were identified from the interviews. Three of these related to the medical students receiving their clinical training in the new teaching hospitals, the teachers undertaking new or additional teaching duties and the patients being treated in the new teaching settings. Interviewees also identified several organisational effects relating to the new, established and non-teaching hospitals in the locality and discussed potential impacts outside of health care settings. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of views expressed by participants were positive citing potential benefits from developments in teaching provision. Areas of concern generally related to the need for successful implementation of the changes within clinically focused environments rather than to the effects of teaching per se. The impacts consequent to the reconfiguration of district general hospitals to teaching hospitals should be evaluated by appropriately designed longitudinal studies.