Cross cover for physicians: an additional burden

To examine the extra burden placed on consultant physicians when providing cross cover for colleagues who are absent on annual or study leave.

A questionnaire was sent to 455 consultant physicians with an interest in gastroenterology, practising in the UK in October 1996.

The response rate was 77%, with 350 completed forms returned. Ninety percent of respondents participate in the acute intake; they provide 85% of cross cover for their colleagues. Only 2% of this burden is carried by the appointment of locums.

Provision of satisfactory cover for inpatients under the care of absent colleagues can place serious demands on consultants at a time when their specialty commitments are also high. Future manpower planning must take these added burdens into consideration.