Healthcare organisations and the acuity agenda: what's the tipping point?

Coombs, M.A. (2008) Healthcare organisations and the acuity agenda: what's the tipping point? ANZICS conference, Auckland, New Zealand. 09 - 11 Apr 2008.

Abstract

There is international recognition of the increasing acuity of hospital patients. This has led to the development of service models to meet the needs of the acutely ill. Initiatives such as Critical Care Outreach and Medical Emergency Teams have resulted in increased investment to support sick ward patients through use of critical care skills and staffing. Although evaluative work on these teams is on going, there continues to be organisational drives to improve patient outcome, and avoid/facilitate critical care admission.
The United Kingdom has broadly adopted Critical Care Outreach across acute care sites. However, demand for support on wards continues to increase, together with concerns that 'sub-optimal care' remains. Resultantly, UK clinicians have lobbied government to develop policy documents for acute clinical care provision.
However, such efforts will be ineffective if healthcare organisations do not see the acuity agenda as a key priority in service delivery. This paper will explore broader organisational strategies to ensure that managing the acuity agenda is not simply 'flavour of the month' but a real commitment to improving in-patient and staff experience.

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