Our aim in the Critical Care Complex (ICU and HDU) is to provide specialised medical and nursing care to patients who are critically ill.
It is not unusual to feel overwhelmed on entering the Unit due to the presence of technical equipment used to look after patients 24 hours a day.
To enable you as visitors to have a better understanding of your surroundings and patient treatment, we encourage you to ask questions.
What is Intensive Care and High Dependency Care?
This is the specialist care given to patients with acute (sudden), potentially reversible, life-threatening diseases. This may include patients who have life-threatening conditions such as a major accident, a severe infection or those recovering from a major operation.
The Units are staffed by a team of highly experienced and professional doctors and nurses who are supported by other allied healthcare professionals. Most patients requiring ICU treatment have a nurse allocated to look after them individually. Some patients who are not so critically ill but still too sick for care on a general ward (High Dependency Unit patients) may be cared for by a nurse who is also looking after other patients.
What You Can Expect
The patient’s initial admission to the Unit is a very busy time because of the need to assess and stabilise the patient.
Many procedures may need to be performed at this time. These procedures may include placing a breathing tube through the patient’s mouth, inserting intravenous lines (drip) and invasive monitoring equipment and performing necessary x-rays and other bedside tests.
During this time you may be asked to wait in the waiting rooms where you will be kept informed and updated on the progress of the patient. We will let you visit as soon as possible. Although we give you estimates as to how long a procedure will take, this is approximate and it may take longer.
We won’t forget about you!
Much of the value of the Intensive Care Unit comes from the careful monitoring of the progress of a disease and the body’s response to complex treatments. This allows timely adjustment of such treatments. In order to achieve this, many investigations and monitoring processes will occur. It may be necessary at times to perform complex procedures in the ICU or HDU, which may be time-consuming and require the Unit to be closed to visitors.