The potential role of IT in supporting the work of junior doctors

Objectives: To develop an information system using hand-held personal compu ters to support the work of junior doctors. Design: A user-driven design process was used. Functionality reflected the core work of house officers (HOs) and senior house officers (SHOs); ie ward round lists, immediate discharge summaries, patient handover, laboratory a nd guidelines reference information and a personal record of clinical exper ience. Setting. Salford Royal Hospital NHS Trust is a university hospital with a l arge acute medical case load. Subjects: Several 'generations' of HOs and SH Os working in two of the four medical firms. Predominantly acute medical ca se load. Main outcome measures: Robustness, acceptability and benefits, assessed by observations and questionnaires. Results: The system has proved robust. It is time neutral for the juniors a nd minimal time is needed for training/adaptation. Most felt the system to have either made their lives easier or to have had no detrimental impact. W ard round lists and printed immediate discharge summaries have been particu larly successful. Conclusions: A hand-held IT system designed for house doctors can provide i mmediate, low-cost support for their activities.