RESUMEN
Patient safety depends on adequate staffing but the number of doctors required for safe staffing for medical emergencies is not known. We measured the duration of the admission process for patients seen by medical teams in emergency departments (EDs) and acute medical units. History taking and examination by a core medical trainee took 22 minutes for a patient referred from the ED and 21 minutes for a patient referred from primary care. A complete admission clerking with prescription and ordering of investigations ranged from a mean of 15 minutes for a consultant in acute medicine to a mean of 55 minutes for a foundation year 1 trainee. The duration of post-take ward rounds also showed significant variability.Our data can be used to model staffing patterns if combined with information about admission numbers and local set up.
Asunto(s)
Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital/organización & administración , Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital/estadística & datos numéricos , Admisión del Paciente/estadística & datos numéricos , Médicos/estadística & datos numéricos , Carga de Trabajo/estadística & datos numéricos , Consultores , Humanos , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
Patient safety in hospital is dependent on a multitude of factors. Recent reports into the failings of healthcare organisations in the UK have highlighted low staffing levels as a significant factor. There is research into the impact of nurse-to-patient ratios on patient safety, but our literature search found little published data that would allow healthcare providers to define a minimum number of physician staff and skills mix that would assure safety in the largest hospital specialty: unscheduled (acute) medicine. Future work should focus on the evaluation of existing data on hospital mortality rates and physician staffing levels as well as on empirical time and motion studies to ascertain the resources required to undertake safe medical care at times of peak demand.