Quantitative and qualitative analysis of exception reporting at a district general hospital

Exception reporting is a function by which junior doctors report when their work has varied from expected. This study analysed the reporting at the authors' hospital.

The authors analysed 204 reports submitted across 12 months to investigate the nature and pattern of the exception reports.

The majority of reports (86%) were for 'hours and rest', 5% for education and 9% for both. On average doctors reported an additional 1.32 hours of work per report. The most common response was time off in lieu, but 13% of reports were never responded to. Qualitative analysis showed the most common reasons for reporting were 'work outside of rostered hours', 'workload' and 'staffing issues'. Over 10% of the reports discussed an educational issue.

The data were not specific and there was fewer than one report per junior doctor in the period analysed. It is therefore unlikely that the reports submitted represent the additional work done by junior doctors at the hospital. Guardians should investigate local attitudes to exception reporting and educate both seniors and juniors on the importance of submitting accurate exception reports.