Contribution of the critical care model
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In 2000, the modernisation agency produced a document entitled Compre-hensive Critical Care, which outlined how critical care should be provided over at least the following decade.
Contribution of the critical care model
In 2000, the
modernisation agency produced a document entitled Comprehensive Critical Care,
which outlined how critical care should be provided over at least the following
decade. Crucially, it facilitated the set-up of clinical networks that focused
multidisciplinary collaboration across a geographical area, creating the
opportunity for consultant nurses, AHPs and pharmacists to influence the
development of practice outside their base hospital.
In 2002 the Modernisation
Agency followed up this report with a description of the functions of
healthcare professionals who supported doctors and nurses, including the roles
of AHPs and healthcare scientists. This was the first document to describe the
activities of clinical pharmacists and provide a benchmark of staffing levels
(0.1 whole-time-equivalent posts (WTE) per level 3 bed and 0.05 WTE per level 2
bed). The publication of this document triggered the UKCPA critical care
pharmacists group, many of whom were leading in local critical care networks,
to form an expert panel and convert the description of these roles into a list
of competencies that were required to support critical care. The work was
supported by the Department of Health lead for critical care and described what
networks and trusts needed to com-mission from pharmacy. It also gave
pharmacists a career development plan for working in critical care from new
practitioner to higher levels of practice and a syllabus of knowledge that
needed to be acquired. The competencies were described in a way that matched
the ACLF and in the same format.
