Consultant physicians and surgeons are responsible for a specifc number of patients in the hospital. Each consultant has a team of junior doctors to help care for those patients. In many hospitals, there are multidisciplinary teams which consist not only of doctors but also of physiotherapists and other allied health professionals.

When patients enter - or are admitted to - hospital, they are usually seen first by one of the junior doctors on the ward where they will receive treatment and care. The junior doctor clerks them - takes their medical history - and examines them. Some time later, the registrar also sees the patients, and may order investigations or tests, for example X-rays or an ECG, make a provisional diagnosis, and begin treatment. The consultant usually sees the new admissions - people who have recently been admitted to the ward -for the first time on one of the regular ward rounds, when the management of the patients is discussed with the registrar. Consultants also decide when a patient is ready to be discharged (sent home). On the ward round,the consultant is accompanied by the team and a nurse, and they visit all the patients in the consultant's care.

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