National Early Warning Score & Associated Programme

Acute Medicine Programme Update

Aims:

• A better patient experience in an appropriate environment
• Elimination of trolley waits
• Safe quality care, expedited diagnosis and correct treatment
• Timely care from a senior medical doctor working within a dedicated multidisciplinary team

Objectives/Key Solution Areas:
Standardisation of access to, and delivery of, high quality, safe acute medicine services nationally.

• Hospital models which enhance the safe provision of patient care
• Navigation hubs to support the streaming of patients to the most appropriate available care setting and enhance communicationbetween primary care, community services and hospital-based services.
• Management of acute medical patients in dedicated Acute Medical Units, Acute Medical Assessment Units and Medical Assessment Units
• Timely care from a senior medical doctor
• National implementation of Early Warning Score to help in the early detection of patients who are likely to deteriorate
• Access to same day diagnostics
• Expedited discharges (including integrated discharge planning 7 days per week)
• Rapid access to OPD

Poster Presentation: Acute Medicine

Deliverables for 2011:

• Support focused implementation of the programme in 12 sites (a site may incorporate a number of hospitals)
• Provide direction to other sites who wish to progress the acute medicine model
• Engage with a number of national initiatives which will support the Programmes (e.g. Early Warning Score, Retrieval Service, Community Intervention Team development, Out-patient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy)

Working Group:Prof. Shane O'Neill & Prof. Garry Courtney - Programme Leads,Mr. Paul Rafferty - Programme Manager, Dr. Jennifer Carroll -Consultant Geriatrician, Dr. Una Geary - Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Dr. Orlaith O'Reilly - Director of Public Health, Dr. Máire O'Connor -Specialist in Public Health Medicine,Dr. Barbara Kearns - ICGP representative, Ms. Eilish Croke - Programme Service Planner,Ms. Ellen Whelan -Joint Lead Clinical Nurse,Ms. Siobhan Scanlon - Joint Lead Clinical Nurse, Ms. Anne-Marie Keown - Therapy Lead, Ms. Maura Flynn - Clinical Informationist.