Trends in the on-call workload of radiologists.

AIM

To evaluate the radiologist on-call clinical workload of an inner-city acute teaching hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data were collected prospectively from a 9-week assessment of the workload of the radiologists on-call at our Trust. Data collection was undertaken using a questionnaire-based survey detailing the date and time of request, and where appropriate, the imaging examination performed. The referring clinician's grade and speciality were also recorded. The results obtained were compared with a similar study carried out in 1996.

RESULTS

A total of 160 requests for out-of-hours imaging were received over the 9-week period.

CONCLUSIONS

The figures indicate that on-call work is increasing with an approximate doubling of out-of-hours requests compared with the survey performed 7 years earlier.