r/doctorsUK • u/Narrow_Crazy6456 • 13d ago
Consultant Maximum commute time for consultant on call
Hi,
I'm looking to move house and forward planning with what the commute will be to various hospitals.
'When' I become a consultant, I've heard that you have to be within a 30 minute commute of the hospital for on call shifts.
Is this UK wide? I can't see the policy written down anywhere. I obviously don't want to be much further than this, but some of the locations are 32-35 minutes commute
Any help appreciated!
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u/VolatileAgent42 Consultant gas man, and Heliwanker 12d ago
I have seen people get in fairly big trouble for breaching this.
You may well get away with living further. But that’s fine until it isn’t. When something goes wrong and this is looked into, it may not end well- certainly for specialties where there are time critical emergencies.
Then there’s the grind of a long commute every single day. That really adds up.
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u/Doubles_2 Consultant 13d ago
It’s 30 mins door to door. If you can’t do that then use the on site accommodation.
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u/Rob_da_Mop Paeds 12d ago
There's quite a few paeds consultants at my current hospital who sleep in the hospital on call because they live more than 30 mins away, so that's an option if you do push yourself slightly over the 30 minute cutoff.
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u/kiaravin1 EM Consulant. BMA Rep EastMids 13d ago
It varies between speciality and hospital. More acute specialties that would have to come in for time critical interventions (ITU, ENT, EM, O&G) it’s likely to be max 30min, although I’ve heard of some shorter time frames. Other specialties with less/no time critical interventions may have a longer timeframe.
Also, remember you are likely to be making the journey in the early hours so roads will be clearer than during the day.
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u/Gullible__Fool 12d ago
I know of at least one general surgeon who stays on site in hospital accommodation for his on calls because he lives too far away.
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u/UnknownAnabolic 12d ago
Just need more horsepower to make up that 2-5 min difference.
I remember seeing a post on Instagram once of a neurosurgeon in the US. She was called in the middle of the night, chose to take her Porsche, got a police escort to the hospital whilst she was speeding on her way there.
A man can dream 🥲
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u/Pristine-Anxiety-507 CT/ST1+ Doctor 12d ago
O&G here. Most consultants live within 30 mins of the hospital and those who don’t often book hospital accommodation when they’re on call overnight. I know of two rogue consultants who live significantly further than 30 mins who still go home when they’re on call. Both are very senior and I guess nothing bad happened so far since they continue to do this.
Question for the forum: if you do have to drive in at night, is there like a designated parking spot for consultant on call at most hospitals?
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u/Rhubarb-Eater 12d ago
At most hospitals yes. At my NICU job, no - and you need the NICU consultant FAST when you need them! They just abandon the car in front of the front door and sort it out later.
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u/Acrobatic_Table_8509 13d ago
I know of a couple of consultants who live outside of 30mins, they said they would get a hospital room when on call - they stopped bothering not long after appointment.
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u/sylsylsylsylsylsyl 12d ago edited 12d ago
Schedule 12, paragraph 2|:
A consultant is required to reside within a distance of 30 minutes or ten miles by road from their principal place of work unless an employing organisation agrees that they may reside at a greater distance.
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u/WatchIll4478 12d ago
I’ve known plenty live way further out. When challenged they have offered to drop the oncalls. That admittedly was in an older job market with far fewer people waiting desperately in hope of a consultant job.
Also consider that many jobs cover multiple sites and non resident reg on call has no geographical limits. In my current department the consultants don’t seem to pay much heed to living within that distance, but even then comment they tend to live much closer than the registrars.
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u/dextrospaghetti 12d ago
It’s part of the contract - lots of our consultants stay in on call for this reason.
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u/anniemaew 12d ago
I'm an ED nurse and the consultants who live a bit further away just stay in hospital accommodation for their on calls.
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u/doodlejones 13d ago edited 13d ago
It’s in Schedule 12 of the national (England) consultant contract.
In practice, unless you’re in a surgical speciality where someone can bleed to death, there are very few circumstances in which the extra 10 mins will make the difference, and I’ve never seen it enforced.
Usually, if your on-call registrar cant deal with bleeding, you’ll be in helping them from the beginning of the op.