Vascular surgery consults: a significant workload
Cherry E Koh1, Stuart R Walker
1Royal Hobart Hospital, Vascular Surgery, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. cherry_koh@hotmail.com
Insights
Vascular surgeons spend half their time on inpatient consultations, with most referrals requiring intervention. This significant workload, particularly from renal and endocrinology, needs better resource allocation.
Area of Science:
- Vascular Surgery
- Inpatient Care
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Patients with vascular disease often have complex, multisystem conditions.
- Vascular surgeons frequently receive consultation requests from other hospital units.
- The extent of this consultation workload is not well-documented.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the inpatient consultation workload of vascular surgeons.
- To identify the sources and outcomes of inpatient vascular referrals.
- To highlight the significance of this workload for resource allocation.
Main Methods:
- A prospective audit of inpatient vascular consultations was conducted over six months.
- Data on referrals to the Vascular Surgery unit were collected.
- Analysis focused on consultation numbers, reasons, and outcomes.
Main Results:
- Inpatient referrals constituted 50% of the vascular surgeon's workload.
- Internal medicine, renal, and endocrinology units were major sources of referrals.
- Sixty-four percent of referrals necessitated vascular intervention.
Conclusions:
- Inpatient consultations represent a substantial and previously undocumented aspect of vascular surgery workload.
- The high rate of required interventions underscores the clinical significance of these referrals.
- Accurate assessment of this workload is crucial for effective theatre resource allocation and staff rostering.
Background:
Patients with vascular disease typically suffer from widespread atherosclerosis and complex multisystem pathologies. As a result, it may be expected that significant portion of a vascular surgeon's inpatient workload is derived from consultations from other inpatient specialist units. This aspect of the workload of vascular surgeons is poorly documented.
Methods:
A prospective audit on inpatient vascular consultations was carried out. All vascular admissions to the Vascular Surgery unit at the Royal Hobart Hospital as well as inpatient referrals by other units over a 6-month period were recorded on a database. The data were analysed to evaluate the number of inpatient consultations, the reason for the consultation and its outcome.
Results:
Most inpatient referrals were derived from internal medicine (32%), renal, endocrinology and plastic surgery units (26, 13 and 9%, respectively). Sixty-four per cent of all referrals required intervention with most of these patients having been referred from renal and endocrinology units.
Conclusion:
In our experience, 50% of the vascular surgeon's inpatient workload is derived from inpatient referrals. Sixty-four per cent of referrals required some form of vascular intervention. This aspect of vascular workload is significant and has not been previously documented. It is time-consuming and also resource consuming and this needs to be taken into consideration when allocating theatre resources and during rostering.
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