A national survey of medical morning handover report in Australian hospitals.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prevalence and format of medical morning handover report (MMHR) in Australian hospitals. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Questionnaire survey faxed to 76 Australian hospitals accredited for basic physician training by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). The survey was conducted in 2005. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Use of MMHR; structure and format of meetings. RESULTS 53 of 76 (70%) hospitals responded. However, some data (1.7% of possible responses) were missing or illegible. Prevalence of the use of MMHR in respondent hospitals was 58% (31/53). Analysing the data by RACP accreditation level, 18/24 Level 3 hospitals (75%) conducted MMHR compared with 5/9 Level 2 hospitals (56%) and 7/18 Level 1 hospitals (39%) (odds ratio [OR] for trend, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.12-4.23; P = 0.023). 44 of 53 respondents reported their Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) classification. MMHR is less likely to be held in hospitals in regions classified as RRMA 2-4 (8/21 [38%]) than those in capital cities (RRMA 1) (16/23 [70%]) (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.08-0.95; P = 0.042). In 62% of hospitals, MMHR was chaired by a consultant, and at most hospitals (23/31 [74%]), meetings were 15-30 minutes long. CONCLUSIONS In spite of RACP accreditation requirements, the use of MMHR in Australian hospitals accredited for basic physician training is low.