Abstract
This study aimed to determine whether screening of telephone calls occurs in hospitals acrossEngland. Eighteen hospitals were selected at random. The caller requested connection to a namedconsultant and to the on-call medical Senior House Officer (SHO). The results of this study highlight a variation in policies between hospitals. All calls were connected to the on-call SHO, with 39% of switchboard operators asking the caller to identify themselves. In the case of calls toconsultants, 67% of callers were asked for identification; 28% of callers were connected to the consultant's mobile telephone-12% of which had not been asked for identification. This study demonstrates the need for local trusts to protect their staff, either by implementing training sessions on how to manage inappropriate calls or by participating in the development of national guidelines to aid switchboard operators to screen calls effectively.
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