To investigate the basic situation of ultrasound departments in secondary and tertiary public hospitals in Anhui Province.

Ultrasonic quality baseline survey forms were issued by the Ultrasonic Medical Quality Control Center of Anhui Province in November 2018, and the subjects of the survey were ultrasound departments of public secondary and tertiary hospitals in Anhui Province. The survey consisted of six parts, including the basic information of the head of ultrasound department, the number of staff, the area of ultrasound department, the number of ultrasonic diagnostic instrument rooms, the number of ultrasonic diagnostic instruments, and the number of beds actually opened in the hospital.

In this survey, the results of 205 hospitals in 15 prefectures and cities in Anhui Province were received. Among them, there were 62 tertiary hospitals and 143 secondary hospitals. Most of the heads of ultrasound departments in Anhui public secondary and tertiary hospitals had a bachelor's degree, a middle or senior professional title, and a professional life of more than 20 years. The average number of ultrasound department staff was 9.3 in the secondary hospitals and 19.3 in the tertiary hospitals. The average area of the ultrasound department was 195.1m² in the secondary hospitals and 505.9 m² in the tertiary hospitals. The average number of ultrasonic diagnostic instrument rooms was 4.9 in the secondary hospitals and 11.3 in the tertiary hospitals. The average number of ultrasound instruments was 4.9 in the secondary hospitals and 11.5 in the tertiary hospitals. The average number of beds actually opened was 510.7 in the secondary hospitals and 1407.5 in the tertiary hospitals.

At present, ultrasound instruments in secondary hospitals in Anhui Province can basically meet the needs of clinical work, and there is a relative shortage of ultrasound instruments in tertiary hospitals. The shortage of staff in ultrasound department is a common problem faced by secondary and tertiary hospitals, especially tertiary hospitals.