THE IMPACT OF A HIGH-DEPENDENCY UNIT ON THE WORKLOAD OF AN INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

While there has been recent support for high-dependency unit developme nt, there are few data reporting the impact of such development on exi sting critical care facilities. Therefore the aim of this study was to examine the workload and capacity constraints of an adult general int ensive care unit before and after the development of an adjacent high- dependency unit. Folio-wing the opening of the high-dependency unit, t he total number of patients admitted increased by 49%. On the high-dep endency unit, more elderly patients were admitted for longer and more frequently following midweek elective surgery. On the intensive care u nit, patients' initial severity of illness was lower and their duratio n of admission decreased; fewer patients were admitted directly from t he general wards. The financial benefits of high dependency care may b e eroded by the increased use of the critical care services.