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ICU Follow-up NBT

Checked: 07-03-2024 by Vicky Ryan Next Review: 06-03-2026

Overview

The ICU Follow Up Pathway at Southmead screens every patient discharged from ICU for potential review in a multi-disciplinary face-to-face clinic. Patients who meet the following criteria are sent screening questionnaires and are triaged to see if they would benefit from a telephone or clinic appointment:

Duration of ICU admission > 5 days
Duration of invasive ventilation > 3 days
All ICU admissions under 18 years of age
All maternity admissions to ICU

The above criteria does not include all admissions and some patients experience delayed reactions to their ICU stay which may occur after the point of initial screening. Direct referrals are therefore also accepted from specialty consultants and GPs. Advice and guidance, a telephone consultation or face-to-face appointment is available as indicated.

Who to refer

GPs can refer patients that have been previous ICU inpatients at Southmead Hospital.

The ICU Follow Up Clinic reviews a small number of ICU discharges in a multidisciplinary ICU clinic with an ICU consultant, senior ICU nurse, physiotherapist and psychologist. We aim to provide context and closure regarding the patient’s ICU admission, giving patients an opportunity to discuss the treatment they received.

Patients admitted to ICU can have significant sequalae from their ICU stay. This can manifest in a number of different ways (sometimes referred to as a Post-ICU Syndrome) including a variety of physical, psychological and cognitive impairments.

Common symptoms that are addressed in clinic include issues relating to fatigue, sleep disturbance, delirium, flashbacks or ongoing symptoms related to a patient's presenting pathology. It is difficult to define exact criteria for referral, but if you think a patient has ongoing issues relating to their ICU stay, then contact the team using the email address below to discuss their case and whether they would benefit from review in the clinic.

Referral

NBT

Please email ICUFollowUp@nbt.nhs.uk with patient details and your clinical question or concern.

UHBW

Remedy is not aware of a similar service at UHBW but will publish information here if this becomes available.

Resources

ICU Follow-up Patient Information Leaflet

Efforts are made to ensure the accuracy and agreement of these guidelines, including any content uploaded, referred to or linked to from the system. However, BNSSG ICB cannot guarantee this. This guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer, in accordance with the mental capacity act, and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs they are considering. Practitioners are required to perform their duties in accordance with the law and their regulators and nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

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