Delivery of surgical care in a district general hospital without high dependency unit facilities

BACKGROUND—Many hospitals lack the facilities for high dependency care, and patients requiring this level of care are nursed on the surgical ward. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of this problem in a district general hospital, looking at the impact of providing high dependency unit (HDU) care at ward level. METHODS—A 28 bed surgical ward was studied for 39 consecutive days. Patients were assessed as being either appropriately placed (routine) or inappropriately placed (HDU). Nursing interventions and observations over each 24 hour period were recorded for the most dependent patient in each group. RESULTS—Data were collected for a total of 1092 bed days. Median bed occupancy was 22 patients/day (78%). Inappropriately placed HDU patients accounted for 55 bed days (5%, mean 1.4 patients/day). These patients required more nursing intervention than routine patients. HDU patients received more observations during a 24 hour period than routine patients (mean 11.3 and 4.2 respectively, p<0.005). The number of observations recorded for a routine patient in a 24 hour period fell when a HDU patient was nursed concurrently on the ward (mean 5.1/24 hours, falling to 3.8 /24 hours in the presence of an HDU patient, p<0.02 ). CONCLUSIONS—HDU patients require more intensive nursing care than routine surgical patients, and the nursing of HDU patients on the ward adversely affects the quantity of care available for less dependent patients. High dependency care should therefore be provided in dedicated units. HDU is an essential facility for all surgical patients, including those who require intensive nursing, and the routine surgical patient whose nursing is compromised by the failure to provide comprehensive postoperative care. Keywords: graduated patient care; postoperative care; dependency