Objectives To understand the effect of attendance at departmental Christmas parties on cohesion and teamwork within the healthcare setting.

Method (design/setting/participants/interventions/outcome measures) We used the ‘Team Development Measure’ questionnaire to assess team cohesiveness among healthcare professionals before and after departmental Christmas parties took place. A pooled mean score (PMS) of responses was used to compare between groups.

Results There were no significant differences in perceived measures of team cohesion when comparing responses before (PMS_before=1.86±0.20) and after (PMS_after=1.91±0.22) the departmental Christmas party (p=0.37), nor was there a significant difference when comparing responses from attendees (PMS_before=1.83±0.23, PMS_after=1.89±0.24, p=0.52) or non-attendees (PMS_before=1.84±1.47, PMS_after=1.83±0.15, p=0.91). No difference was observed between professional groups (PMS_doctors=1.85±0.23, PMS_nurses=1.95±0.18, p=0.064).

Conclusion Attendance at departmental Christmas parties does not seem to result in improved team cohesion.