Evaluation of an on-call diabetes service in a large teaching hospital.

Aims: 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.