An audit of environmental health calls to a department of public health medicine.
OBJECTIVE
To audit telephone calls concerning general issues in communicable disease control and environmental health to a department of public health medicine.


METHODS
A department of public health medicine in a district with a population of 190,000 during 1993.


METHODS
A retrospective audit of forms designed to record all calls concerning environmental health and communicable disease control. The intervention was a change in design of forms and education of doctors dealing with the calls. A re-audit was done after these changes had been implemented.


RESULTS
The number of recorded calls increased from 1.75 (1992) to 3.29 (mid-1993) per week. Signing of forms increased from 61% to 83% and dating from 6% to 72%. All forms filled in by registrars or senior registrars were reviewed by the Consultant in Communicable Disease Control (CCDC). Very few calls were considered to be inappropriate.


CONCLUSIONS
The increase in the number of calls was probably artefactual owing to better recording as a result of the audit. Improved recording will help in future training and audit, and be a medico-legal safeguard.
Chappel
D
D
Department of Public Health Medicine, Buckinghamshire Health Authority, Milton Keynes Hospital Campus.
Fernandes
V
V
D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004739:England; D004782:Environmental Health; D005568:Forms and Records Control / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008330:Management Audit; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013689:Telephone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data