Surgical handover in an era of reduced working hours: an audit of current practice.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the current practice of handover and to record trainees' assessment of handover process.


METHODS
An audit study.


METHODS
Department of General Surgery, Scarborough General Hospital, Scarborough, United Kingdom, from January to April 2010.


METHODS
A paper-based questionnaire containing instruments pertaining to handover guidelines was disseminated to trainees on surgical on-call rota at the hospital. Trainees' responses regarding handover process including information transferred, designated location, duration, structure, senior supervision, awareness of guidelines, formal training, and rating of current handover practice were analysed.


RESULTS
A total of 42 questionnaires were returned (response rate = 100%). The trainees included were; registrars 21% (n=9), core surgical trainees 38 % (n=16), and foundation trainees 41% (n=17). Satisfactory compliance (> 80% handover sessions) to RCS guidelines was observed for only five out of nine components. Ninety-five percent of hand over sessions took place at a designated place and two-third lasted less than 20-minutes. Computer generated handover sheet 57% (n=24) was the most commonly practised method of handover. Specialist registrar 69 % (n=29) remained the supervising person in majority of handover sessions. None of the respondents received formal teaching or training in handover, whereas only half of them 48% (n=20) were aware of handover guidelines. Twenty-one percent of the trainees expressed dissatisfaction with the current practice of handover.


CONCLUSIONS
Current practice of surgical handover lacks structure despite a fair degree of compliance to RCS handover guidelines. A computerised-sheet based structured handover process, subjected to regular audit, would ensure patient safety and continuity of care.
Department of Transplant Surgery, Freeman Hospital, UK. srkhan75@doctors.org.uk
Shafiq-ur-Rehman
Sajid
S
Mehmood
Jamil
J
Ahmed
Muhammad Haroon
MH
Razzaq
Shakeeb
S
Khan
Eugene Phillip
EP
Perry
D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008485:Medical Audit; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D010348:Patient Care Team; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires