Bill
We have had an EAU (12 beds) for the past 2 yrs (in
its present format). Managed by A&E, where physicians
(usually SHOs) see assess and admit. We also have some
low risk surgical stuff which goes through there (seen
by A&E/surgical staff). There have been good things
about it (GP referrals direct to physicians for
assessment) and other bits not so good (junior
doctors......due to lack of senior physicians being
ivolved in process). This is now all about to change
again!
On a wider point with regard to labels....in our
hospital as part of the emergency process we have an
EAU, an MAU, a CDU, soon to have an EARU as well as
the RRAT. The ECL will soon be helping to sort this
all out!!!
The point of course is...It doesn't matter what you
label something....as long as it works for your
hospital. Most things tend to come full circle anyway.
At the end of the day, there will be a group of
patients who can be managed by the ED staff after a
period of observation and/or treatment and decision
making. We have chosen to call our unit a CDU although
other names considered were the observation unit, the
RDTC and A&E short Stay.
You are welcome to come and visit...hope you are good
at TLAs!!
Taj
--- Richard BAILEY <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Dear List
> I would welcome any pearls of wisdom/advice from any
> A&E docs out there who have experience of managing
> EAU. Our trust is about to create a new directorate
> [Emergency Care Directorate] which will include A&E,
> EAU and the bed bureau. It is almost tied on that
> the Clinical Director will be from A&E. EAU
> presently is "managed" by the Medical Directorate
> and the patients are looked after mainly by Medical
> SHO's - one of the problems has been lack of senior
> input on the unit.
>
> I am particularly interested into the input from the
> Physicians - do the Medical Consultants still do
> ward rounds on the unit?, is day to day care
> provided by Medical Juniors or A&E docs? , what is
> the level of clinical input from the A&E
> Consultants?. Do the units have a maximum stay prior
> to discharge or admission to a Medical Ward? - if
> so, how long - 24 hrs, 48hrs ...? How do you prevent
> the "bottleneck" moving from the A&E/EAU interface
> to the EAU/Medical ward interface? I would like to
> incorporate a Clinical Decision Unit into the new
> EAU [emphasis on assessment not admission] - is this
> feasible?
>
> I think this is a fantastic opportunity for us to
> really move things forward but recognise there are
> many pitfalls and potential problems - all
> constructive help will be welcome!
>
>
> Best wishes
>
> Bill Bailey, A&E Chesterfield
>
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