Out-of-hours scintigraphy: a survey of current practice.

A questionnaire was sent to 221 nuclear medicine departments in the UK asking about their staffing and work patterns. In particular, we wanted to know how many of them offered an on-call service. In those cases where departments wished to offer this service but did not do so, they were asked what was stopping them. Replies were received from 150 departments, a response rate of 68%. Of these, 43 (29%) offered an on-call service, although only 21 (14%) performed ten or more out-of-hours scans in an average year. The examinations most commonly offered were lung scans, localization of gastrointestinal bleeding and renography. In those centres wishing to offer an on-call service but which were unable to do so, limitation of resources was the reason most frequently advanced. Lack of clinical demand was the factor most often quoted by those not wishing to extend their service. The issue of emergency scintigraphy is discussed in the light of these results.