Page 2 - Registrar Orientation Manual 2016

POLICY
Senior Medical Officer (SMO) and Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) Responsibilities and the Limits of Delegation of Responsibilities to RMOs
Contents
1. Purpose and Scope
2. Principles of delegated responsibility
3. When RMOs must contact the responsible SMO regarding patients they see or admit
4. Involvement of SMOs in ward referrals
5. Complex cases requiring input from multiple specialities
6. Patients in the Emergency Department and Emergency Department referrals
7. Audit
8. Associated Documents
1. Purpose and Scope
This policy outlines the responsibilities that a Senior Medical Officer (SMO) has for their patients and for referrals and what responsibility can be delegated to Resident Medical Officers (RMOs).
This policy also outlines when and how the SMO is to be contacted regarding a patient for whom they are the responsible SMO and for patients referred to them or their service.
This policy is deemed to apply to all RMOs unless there are specific instructions to the contrary in the department they are working.
2. Principles of delegated responsibility
The SMO is ultimately responsible for all patients seen or admitted by their RMOs and the SMO remains accountable for the decisions and actions of their RMOs.
RMOs work under delegated responsibility and have a professional responsibility to remain within their area of competence and to seek assistance from their SMO when required.
The SMO must ensure they are kept reasonably informed regarding the condition of their patients and must ensure they, or another SMO, are always available to give assistance to their RMOs.
Some SMO responsibilities cannot be delegated to RMOs. These include:
 Reviewing all new patients within 24 hours of admission.
 Reviewing all inpatients at least twice a week.
 Reviewing all High Dependency Unit (HDU) patients on a daily basis (or more frequently if
clinically required).
 Reviewing patients on day 1 post major or emergency surgery.
 Reviewing and acknowledging histology results.
 Obtaining consent if the RMO is not competent to obtain it.
 Discussing complex cases with the coroner.
 Writing coroner’s reports unless the coroner has specifically requested a report from a RMO.
 Open disclosure of serious adverse events.
 Review of patients when a SMO opinion has been requested by another SMO.
 Responsibility for complex cases requiring multi-speciality input (see Section 5).
 Clinical handover of patient care when the responsible SMO is on leave or at conference.
Doc ID:
2561
Version:
02
Issue Date:
27 July 2016
Review
26 July 2019
Document Owner:
Dr Paul Reeve
Department:
CDlainteic:al Services
IF THIS DOCUMENT IS PRINTED, IT IS VALID ONLY FOR THE DAY OF PRINTING Page 2 of 4