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Psychiatric Bulletin (2004) 28: 368-370. doi: 10.1192/pb.28.10.368
© 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Psychiatric Bulletin (2004) 28: 368-370
© 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Does a limited nurse triage service reduce junior doctor psychiatric on-call workload?

*A. P. Moore

Specialist Registrar in General Adult Psychiatry, Lyme Brook Mental Health Resource Centre, Talke Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent ST5 7TL

S. Willmott

Statistician, Leighton Hospital, Crewe, Cheshire

Declaration of interest

None.

AIMS AND METHOD

To investigate whether nurse triage might reduce junior doctors’ on-call workloads in a general adult psychiatry in-patient unit, we measured changes in workload after the introduction of a limited (overnight and weekend mornings) nurse triage service on the unit, comparing pre-triage work levels with levels 1 year later. This time frame allowed the new service to settle in, and controlled for seasonal variations in workload.

RESULTS

The number of ‘work episodes’ went up, especially during the night shifts, but the average length of each episode went down (both statistically significant, P<0.001). The net result was a slight increase in workload in terms of total time spent dealing with episodes, most notably at night.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

A limited overnight nurse triage service was ineffective on its own as a means of reducing the out-of-hours workload of junior doctors, and even slightly increased it. A more comprehensive triage service, with a greater range of alternatives to admission, might have had a different result.






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British Journal of Psychiatry Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
Copyright © 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists.