SDO funded research regarding the evaluation of modernisation of adult critical care services publishes in the BMJ
13 November 2009
News release from NETSCC, SDO
New NIHR SDO funded research evaluating the impact and cost effectiveness of a programme to transform adult critical care in England has been published in the BMJ.
In 2000 the Department of Health advocated the "modernisation" of adult critical care and, as a parallel initiative, funded a 35% increase in the number of beds. Responsibility for leading the transformation of services lay with the newly created NHS Modernisation Agency and focused on integrating critical care with other acute services in the hospital, thus creating "comprehensive critical care."
Researchers led by Andrew Hutchings studied 96 critical care units, involving close to 350,000 patient admissions. They found that by 2006, the risk of unit mortality fell by 11.3% and hospital mortality by 13.4%, compared with the steady state in the three preceding years. This was accompanied by substantial reductions in both transfers between units and in unplanned night discharges. In addition to this, the mean annual net monetary benefit increased significantly after 2000, indicating that the changes were relatively cost effective.
The researchers have concluded that if such changes can be attributed to the initiatives to transform critical care (increased capacity, clinical networks, outreach services, and the ventilator care bundle) this package can be regarded as more cost effective than many other healthcare interventions and therefore it represents an excellent use of NHS resources.
To view the full project details please click here.
The BMJ article is available here: www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/nov11_2/b4353
