Establishing the value of call-handling metrics in a United Kingdom Poisons Information Centre

Poisons Information Centres in the United Kingdom have experienced increased enquiry volume over the past five years, accompanied by declining answer rates, together indicating increasing operational pressure on Specialists in Poisons Information. Accurate measurement of enquiry handling time is essential for understanding workload and informing workforce planning; however, the validity of routinely collected operational metrics has not been evaluated.

We undertook a service evaluation to compare automated timestamps from the national enquiry-logging system with manually recorded handling times. Handling time was defined as the sum of 'talk', 'hold' and 'documentation' time. Data were self-collected across 48 call handling shifts, involving 821 enquiries. For each enquiry, manually recorded handling time was compared with the system-generated duration to assess alignment and, if applicable, to quantify the magnitude and direction of any discrepancy.

Automated timestamps did not provide an accurate measure of total handling time, with bidirectional errors observed across Specialists in Poisons Information irrespective of experience. System-generated durations typically underestimated true handling time by approximately 20%, equating to a cumulative discrepancy of 30-80 min per shift. The median manually determined handling time for an incoming enquiry was 538 s, with 78% of time spent talking to the enquirer and 22% on documentation. Handling times were substantially longer for hospital-originated enquiries (828 s). The median case handling time also increased linearly with increasing case severity.

Growing enquiry volume and reduced answer rates motivated assessment of automated timestamp data, which underestimated true handling time. Wide variability indicated routine metrics may lack validity for describing workload or informing operational decisions.

Automated timestamping substantially underestimates true enquiry handling time and may misrepresent workloads in Poison Information Centres. Accurate measurement of handling time is essential for modelling capacity, determining safe staffing levels and ensuring that national performance targets remain achievable.