title: Effect on patient management of a weekend 'on-call' nuclear medicine service.
abstract: The Nuclear Medicine Department at Kent and Canterbury Hospital operates a limited weekend on-call service staffed on a rota basis by a technician, a nurse and a doctor. Following a review of the service over a 2-year period, a prospective study was carried out to analyse the workload of the on-call service from August 1991 to July 1992. The aim was to assess the impact of the service on patient management and examine the cost implications. Sixty-two scans were performed during the year (38 Saturday, 22 Sunday, 2 Bank Holiday) of which 52 were ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) lung scans. The study examined the reports on the scans and the subsequent course of treatment and changes in patient management. For V/Q lung scans, anticoagulation therapy was changed in 13 cases as a result of the scan report. Of the lung scans showing low probability of pulmonary emboli, four patients were discharged on the day of the scan and a further eight within 48 h. The total cost of the on-call service (staff and consumables) was 6020 pounds, i.e. less than 100 pounds per patient and less than 2% of the departmental budget. The low cost and high number of changes in patient management indicate a reasonable cost-benefit ratio.
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Medicine Department, Kent and Canterbury Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eustance
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: O'Doherty
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Coakley
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004739:England; D006693:Holidays; D006745:Hospital Bed Capacity, 300 to 499; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009684:Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D016526:Workload