-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Kay [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 17 December 2003 14:32
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Definition of urgent
I would recommend:
1 There are only two streams:
* The patient is in the hospital, and analyses in this category go
ahead of the other category:
* The patient isn't in the hospital
(The whole concept of prioritising according to what is written on the
request card assumes reliable cross-calibration of clinicians: I don't
know of any evidence for this. )
2 That the faster stream has such good TaT that only very rarely is
there a need to treat any request non-routinely. I suggest a clinical
TaT of 90% in 60 min
3 That urgent needs for plasma glucose and potassium assay are met
using PoCT, and that will nearly always be on blood gas analysers at
the moment.
4 Adding further streams and priorities causes confusion.
5 At the clinical-laboratory interface we should remove the need for
clinicians to 'phone the laboratory to request analyses. (Everyone
wins with this approach. )
6 This does imply 24 x7 provision by the laboratories. (If you're going
to do the assay sometime do it while the specimen is in front of you.
Get rid of sorting and batching. )
So in Oxford our response to
>
> We had one of our juniors order "urgent" electrolytes for Monday
> morning on
> the previous Friday.
would be:
1 It will be analysed on Friday whatever she wrote on the request card.
2 Don't bother to 'phone.
3 That o-r-d-e-r spells "request".
The hospital has an order entry facility, hence the use of the word "order".
The time over which requests can be pre-ordered has been since shortened
considerably!
Jonathan
On Wednesday, Dec 17, 2003, at 13:23 Europe/London, Williams David G
(RLN) City Hospitals Sunderland - Clinical Scientist wrote:
> What do list members understand by the term "urgent"?
>
> Is it a result that is needed to initiate treatment as a matter of
> urgency,
> or a result that is needed to allow another procedure to commence e.g.
> elective surgery, or to clear a bed.
>
> Or is a new definition needed?
>
> We had one of our juniors order "urgent" electrolytes for Monday
> morning on
> the previous Friday.
>
> David G Williams
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------ACB discussion List Information--------
This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical
community working in clinical biochemistry.
Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed
via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and
they are responsible for all message content.
ACB Web Site
http://www.acb.org.uk
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