A new team has been established at Noble’s Hospital to enhance the care of patients and improve patient safety. The Critical Care Outreach Team is made up of a dedicated group of health care staff who are qualified practitioners and experienced in caring for acutely ill patients. This team will help to strengthen and extend provision of critical care skills and assessment throughout the hospital, as well as offering practical support for staff.
Noble’s Hospital already has full and comprehensive critical care facilities in the form of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Coronary Care Unit (CCU), which are comprised of intensive care, high dependency and coronary care beds. Clinicians working in these areas are however, understandably, focussed on the patients under their direct care and spend the vast majority of their time treating patients in the units themselves. Critical Care Outreach Teams exist to ensure that critical care expertise and support is more widely available to clinicians who work outside of ICU and CCU, on wards, where the direct and early intervention of professionals with experience in treating acutely unwell patients can be invaluable. This can take the form of detecting and managing the deterioration of a patient and in some cases, through skilled and appropriate intervention, may even avoid the need to transfer a patient to ICU/CCU. Outreach can be equally beneficial in the care of patients being transferred from the ICU/CCU to a ward, where the transition period over the first 48 hours is particularly important in terms of monitoring and care management.
Pam Makin, Clinical Lead for Critical Care Outreach said:
'Critical Care Outreach is primarily about ensuring that the delivery of critical care more readily extends beyond ICU and CCU. This is achieved by providing a link between the Critical Care Team and clinicians in a ward environment. This could be in the form of direct involvement in assessing patients whose condition is deteriorating, providing patient care, offering advice and support to colleagues, or providing additional education and training in critical care to clinicians. The only way we’re able to achieve this is through having a dedicated and specific team of professionals with experience in critical care, who are able to work outside of ICU and CCU with colleagues in caring for patients on other wards. In essence, Critical Care Outreach is about ensuring that our most acutely unwell patients receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time. It’s about reaching out to other wards so they can utilise our expertise in critical care at the very earliest opportunity.
'This is a very exciting initiative which will further enhance patient care. The team and I are very much looking forward to developing an effective service and working with colleagues throughout the hospital to ensure a real multi-disciplinary team working approach, with a determination to focus on improving patient care and outcomes.'
The Outreach Service operates 7.15am to 8.45pm seven days per week and is headed by Pam with four Critical Care Outreach Practitioners – Lynn Meredith, Rachel O’Neil, Kate Gaunt and Maria Foulger and also Graham Lloyd Brandrick, Advanced Nurse Practitioner.
Minister for Health, David Anderson MHK, said:
'I very much welcome the development of the new Critical Care Outreach Team. Providing timely and effective intervention for those who are acutely unwell is essential in providing high quality care. I am certain that this new team will be able to further enhance the critical care services at Noble’s Hospital. The team has been established by reviewing and realigning existing expertise and resources within the hospital. My thanks and congratulations to everyone involved in taking this project forward.
'This new service was identified as the number one priority from the patient safety workstreams, which were developed and are being progressed by staff from across Noble’s Hospital. Work continues on the remaining workstreams, which in time will deliver further enhancements to hospital services.'
Pictured are Aggie Caine, Surgical Division Manager; Dudley Butt MLC, Member for Health Services; David Anderson MHK, Minister for Health; and Sister Pam Makin, Clinical Lead for Critical Care Outreach
