COVID-19 Rapid transformation of the medical on-call rotas to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study

ABSTRACT

At Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust, an emergency rota was put into place in anticipation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key changes included re-deploying non-general medical (GIM) consultants on to the GIM on-call rota and re-deploying junior doctors on to medical rotas, and introducing a COVID-19 induction training programme to support these redeployments. Results from a survey showed 100% of consultants felt the rotas were resilient, with 96% of consultants stating they felt the rotas were well-staffed and 77% stating that they observed no drop in quality of care. Here we outline how these changes were made and present quantitative and qualitative feedback, with the aim of informing other trusts carrying out similar urgent reconfigurations in the future, or seeking to apply the lessons learnt to their non-emergency rotas.