A Survey of After-Hours Interventional Radiology Availability in Ontario

Purpose: A survey to determine the availability of after-hours IR on-call services at Ontario hospitals that have a radiology department. A secondary outcome is to determine potential barriers to the provision of IR after-hours on call services within the province. Methods: A survey was created and distributed to the radiology department heads across Ontario during a 6-week period in 2024. Results: The survey was sent to the department heads at 73 hospitals across the province of Ontario. Survey completion rate was 41% (30/73). Two thirds of the respondents had formal IR divisions (20/30, 66.7%). A total of 14 hospitals with IR departments offered on call services (70%, 14/20) and 2 of the hospitals without IR departments (2/10, 20%) offered on call services for non-vascular IR procedures (eg, abscess drainage). 92.9% of the groups offering IR call services stated year-over-year demand was increasing. The most common barrier to after-hours services were staffing resources. Conclusion: After-hours IR services have limited availability in the province of Ontario, and not all hospitals with IR departments currently provide after-hours access to IR procedures. The main barrier to provision of after-hours services is the lack of health human resources, in particular IR physicians.