Evaluation of an on-call diabetes service in a large teaching hospital.
OBJECTIVE
To assess prospectively the activity and effectiveness of a diabetes specialist on-call service.


METHODS
All requests for specialist advice received by the doctor on-call for diabetes in a large teaching hospital were recorded and analysed over a period of 3 weeks.


RESULTS
The total number of calls was 135 (mean 45 per week) of which 48.1% were outside normal working hours. Requests for advice from surgical and medical ward staff accounted for 43% of calls, the remainder were from staff in the maternity ward (12.6%), staff in other hospitals in the city (3.7%), general practitioners (13.3%) and patients (27.4%). The time spent by the on-call doctor for diabetes responding to calls was a mean of 8.6 h per week. The number of acute admissions prevented by this service was estimated to be 11 (3.6 per week).


CONCLUSIONS
Open access to specialist advice provided by a doctor with expertise in diabetes is an effective adjunct to the delivery of diabetes care in the setting of a large teaching hospital.
Perros
P
P
Department of Diabetes, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Petros.Perros@ncl.ac.uk
Frier
B M
BM
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000628:therapy; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D015277:Hotlines; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000628:therapy; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013038:Specialization; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital
D007328:Insulin