Providing intensive care

BMJ 1996;313:111 (13 July)

Letters

Providing intensive care

Criticisms of situation in Birmingham are unsubstantiated

EDITOR,--D F Bowden and D P Burke make inaccurate and unsubstantiatedallegations about the organisation of intensive care beds inUniversity Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust.¹ We are disappointedthat they did not have the courtesy to check their facts beforecriticising a third party.

University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust comprises two hospitals(Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Selly Oak Hospital) some 2.4 kmapart. Across the trust there are 46 critical care beds: QueenElizabeth Hospital has 34 (general intensive therapy unit, 10;liver intensive therapy unit, 6; cardiac intensive therapy unit,6; and neurocritical care, 6 intensive therapy unit beds and6 high dependency unit beds) and Selly Oak Hospital has 12 (generalintensive therapy unit, 7; and trauma intensive therapy unit,5). These beds are largely run by a trustwide anaesthetics andintensive care directorate, although the specialist units relateto their . . . [Full text of this article]