Postoperative critical care and high-acuity care provision in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Decisions to admit high-risk postoperative patients to critical care may be affected by resource availability. We aimed to quantify adult ICU/high-dependency unit (ICU/HDU) capacity in hospitals from the UK, Australia, and New Zealand (NZ), and to identify and describe additional 'high-acuity' beds capable of managing high-risk patients outside the ICU/HDU environment.

Methods

We used a modified Delphi consensus method to design a survey that was disseminated via investigator networks in the UK, Australia, and NZ. Hospital- and ward-level data were collected, including bed numbers, tertiary services offered, presence of an emergency department, ward staffing levels, and the availability of critical care facilities.

Results

We received responses from 257 UK

SUBMITTER: Wong DJN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6435907 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature