Acute medical units during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-national exploratory study of impact and responses.
Clin Med (Lond)
; 21(5): e462-e469, 2021 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1352933
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic represents one of the greatest ever challenges for healthcare. In the UK and beyond, acute medical units (AMUs) are the first point of assessment and care for the majority of medical inpatients. By their design and systems, they inevitably played an important role in the COVID-19 response but to date little has been published on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected how AMUs have reorganised their resources, processes and structure.METHODS:
This retrospective study in August 2020 of 10 AMUs across Europe and Australasia used a standardised questionnaire to investigate existing practice and structure of AMUs, the national context of local hospital experience, changes to practice during the COVID-19 pandemic and views regarding future practice.RESULTS:
Changes to AMU structure, process and organisation are described in two contexts preventing and controlling the spread of COVID-19 and adding value to the patient's acute care journey in the local context. We describe novel practices that have arisen and highlight areas of concern.CONCLUSIONS:
The AMUs were able to adapt to meet the demands of acute care delivery during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Operational planning and prioritisation of resources must be optimised to ensure sustainability of these services for future waves.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Clin Med (Lond)
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Clinmed.2021-0150
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