Editorial
Respiratory intensive care in Europe: lessons for the UK
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In this issue of Thorax Nava
et al review the provision of respiratory
intensive and high dependency care in Europe.1 Medically orientated high dependency units (HDUs) are rare in the UK and in a
recent survey only 26% of 190 general hospitals with an intensive care
unit (ICU) had an HDU2; the proportion of beds allocated for medical patients was not stated. With increasing pressure on
intensive care beds and the development of non-invasive ventilation, it
is timely to consider the provision of a clinical area intermediate between intensive care and a general medical ward. Common sense suggests that, if the choice is between an ICU
with one nurse to each
patient and a high level of monitoringand a general wardwith a much
lower nurse:patient ratio and little or no monitoring
equipmentpatients will either need to remain in the ICU longer than
is necessary or be discharged
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This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Simonds, A K
(2005). Streamlining weaning: protocols and weaning units. Thorax
60: 175-182
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