KEY POINTS:
Patients admitted to a hospital for surgery see an average of 10 doctors and 16 nurses in their stay - and those are just the ones who write in their medical notes, a new study has found.
The study looked at the records of 81 patients admitted to Auckland City Hospital's admission and planning unit and emergency department on one day - May 2, 2005.
The 34 patients who had surgery saw an average of 10 doctors, 15.9 nurses and 0.8 other health workers for an overall average of 26.6 health professionals during their hospital stay.
The 47 who needed only medical treatment - not surgery - saw 17.8 health professionals on average, made up of six doctors, 10.7 nurses and one allied health worker.
Of the 81 patients admitted in the day, the average length of stay was 5.67 days.
The study, by Auckland doctors Naomi Whitt, Richard Harvey, Garth McLeod and Stephen Child and reported in the New Zealand Medical Journal, said patients often appeared unsure who was caring for them, asked who their doctor was and complained about seeing too many different people.
It said shift pattern changes to reduce the number of hours doctors worked in a day were partly responsible for the high number who saw any given patient.
The "shared care" made communication even more important.
- NZPA
