Enhanced Care
The Society is committed to helping units deliver Enhanced Care where it suits the local health economy, and where the skills of local clinicians support it.
To this end, we have developed joint guidance with the Intensive Care Society which was published in November 2022, and is available below:
As part of a multi-specialty working group, we helped shape the over-arching guidance ‘ENHANCED CARE: Guidance on service development in the hospital setting’; published by FICM and endorsed by the three Medical Royal Colleges.
The Society has endorsed the National Competency Framework developed by the National Outreach Forum (NOrF) and Critical Care Networks – National Nurse Leads (CC3N) as the standard for nurses working within enhanced care.
We have created a database of Acute Medical Units across the UK who have already developed Enhanced Care Units, available here (members only). There are example SOPs, admission criteria, unit facilities and contact details to facilitate any SAM member who is looking to develop or expand Enhanced Care.
For any unit who wishes to contribute to the database or update / amend their details, please contact administrator@acutemedicine.org.uk.
In addition to this, the Intensive Care Society has a number of guidelines available for the delivery of Critical Care, some of which may be relevant to Enhanced Care (for example, the peripheral use of vasopressor therapy); these are accessible via the ICS website. (Please note: providing links to these guidelines does not imply that the Society believes these services are mandatory within Enhanced Care – what can and should be delivered will vary from unit to unit).