A fact sheet posted to the Bermuda Hospitals Board website is designed to help people understand more about inpatient care, the organisation’s chief executive has said.

R. Scott Pearman explained that the BHB followed the same quality standards as Britain, the United States and Canada, “with inpatient acute care led by on-site hospitalists on our acute care inpatient units, with other specialists leading in critical and emergency care units”.

He added: “We often get questions from patients about their inpatient care, especially about the role of their general practitioners while they are in the hospital.

“We hope the fact sheet posted on our website will help.”

Nevin Williams, the acting chief of medicine and director of the Hospitalist programme, said that in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, care is led by the “most responsible physician”, who would be the main contact for the patient and family.

He added: “At KEMH, your most responsible physician may vary depending on the area you are in, but it will always be an on-site physician specialist with the most appropriate training for your care.”

The BHB said that in the hospital’s Emergency Department, the MRP was an emergency physician and for a patient admitted after planned surgery, the surgeon takes on the role.

People admitted to an inpatient unit from the Emergency Department will have a hospitalist as the lead physician.

The BHB added: “If a patient becomes critically ill and is moved to the intensive care unit, the MRP will be one of the anaesthetists trained in critical care.”

It explained that an MRP directs the clinical team of nurses, allied health staff — such as physiotherapists and dietitians — and other doctors, such as cardiologists, who might need to advise on a patient’s care.

Dr Williams said there were more than 3,100 admissions to KEMH’s acute care units annually, with patients mostly cared for by hospitalists.

He explained: “Hospitalists are doctors with special training in internal medicine and hospital care.

“They are on-site 24/7, so they can quickly respond to any sudden issue a patient experiences.”

He said their main duty was to provide acute care until a patient is discharged to be overseen by their general practitioner.

Dr Williams said that for more than 60 per cent of KEMH’s patients, their stay was under seven days.

In addition, he said steps were being taken to improve communication between hospitalists and GPs including through the use of the hospital’s patient electronic and administrative records log, called Pearl.

Burton Butterfield, the chief of family practice and the GP representative on the BHB Medical Staff Committee, acts as the link between community-based practitioners and the hospital.

He said: “As GPs we know our patients well since we see them over long periods of time.

“Our expertise is in caring for patients with illnesses and injuries in the community, managing chronic illnesses and knowing when a patient needs hospital care or a specialist.”

Dr Butterfield said it is important that GPs receive timely and accurate information when a patient is admitted.

He added: “We may speak with the hospitalists in cases where our understanding of the patient’s history may help in making decisions but most critical for us is getting the discharge summary so we can smoothly co-ordinate the patient’s care back in the community.”

The hospitals board said that GPs received discharge summaries by fax, e-mail or by having access to read the BHB’s electronic medical record system.

It added: “BHB is planning to follow the lead in the UK by discontinuing the use of fax in the future due to issues of reliability and confidentiality.

“This requires collaboration between BHB and community physicians.

“The chief medical information officer position, held by consultant anaesthetist Dr Simon Morton, has been expanded to lead the work required, and a physician committee that includes GPs is already meeting to help optimise the use of Pearl in sharing secure and confidential patient information.”