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I worked a 1:2 for 7 years with a series of absentee landlords, many of whom frankly took the p*ss - I remember one particular charmer who asked if I minded covering Thursday night. The rota was M/Th one week, T/W/F/S/S the other. He left thing Tuesday morning and returned the following Monday! I made him take it as A/L - well it was deducted from his severance... This was in the days of the old contract, and one of the reasons I left was that a dermatologist 10 years older than me could be taking home half as much again with no on-call... To answer the question, people coming through the ranks now simply will not look at a 1:2, so you have to look at a better rate. The catch with most rotas is of course that you are expected to do internal cover, which turns a 1:3 into a 1:2.4 or so. There comes a minimum staffing, however small the department, and I am inclined to agree with Adrian on 1:4. /Rowley./