Accident and emergency reporting in UK teaching departments.
A survey of 44 UK training departments shows that trainee radiologists commence accident and emergency (A & E) reporting after an average of 10.2 months in radiology and perform a considerable proportion of the A & E reporting workload. Most respondents consider that they supervise junior staff but only 11 departments directly check their work and only two departments offer supervision to staff with more than 2 years' experience. All A & E radiographs are reported in 79.9% of hospitals and the other hospitals operate selective reporting policies. The delay between the radiographic examination and the radiology report reaching the A & E department is less than 48 hours in about two-thirds of departments when the examination is performed Monday to Friday, but exceeds 48 hours in two-thirds of departments when it is performed at weekends. Misinterpretation of radiographs is one of the commonest errors in A & E. Improved supervision of less experienced trainees is required. Consultants should contribute and one should be responsible for this area. Radiological conferences are important and the secretarial services require major improvement.
Beggs
I
I
Department of Radiology, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh.
Davidson
J K
JK
D000059:Accidents; D004630:Emergencies; D006748:Hospital Departments / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D010559:Personnel Management; D011859:Radiography; D011871:Radiology / Q000193:education*; D011872:Radiology Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging