Appropriate Medical Staffing Improves Patient Safety, Training and Doctor Wellbeing.

Background Cross-covering of medical and surgical specialities out-of-hours is a problem in many hospitals, leaving trainee doctors responsible out-of-hours for patients they have never met, in specialities where they do not normally work. This has implications for patient safety and doctor wellbeing. In our Trust, a historical decision resulted in trainee doctors in Trauma & Orthopaedics and Ear Nose and Throat Surgery being reallocated out-of-hours to cross-cover medical inpatients.