What does a house-surgeon on call for the wards do?

Area of Science:

• Medicine
• Surgery
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Managing out-of-hours calls in general surgery requires efficient staffing.
• Assessing workload and support needs for on-call surgical house-officers is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of an on-call house-surgeon model for managing out-of-hours calls in a general surgery department.
• To determine the necessary support structures and workload implications of this staffing approach.

Main Methods:

• A survey of out-of-hours calls from general surgical inpatients within a 181-bed service.
• Analysis of call types and frequency handled by a single on-call house-surgeon.
• Assessment of the role of registrar support and weekend ward rounds.

Main Results:

• The number and type of out-of-hours calls were satisfactorily managed by one on-call house-surgeon covering all firms.
• Difficult cases required readily available registrar support.
• Weekend service ward rounds by all firms were implemented.

Conclusions:

• An on-call house-surgeon model with registrar support and mandatory weekend ward rounds is an economical staffing solution.
• This model effectively handles out-of-hours surgical patient demands.
• The workload associated with weekend rounds requires acknowledgment and potential adjustment.