Published 17 November 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2609
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2609

News

Acute medicine needs better standards to guide development of the specialty

Bryan Christie

1 Edinburgh

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A consensus conference on acute medicine, now the fastest growing of all medical specialties in the United Kingdom, has called for explicit standards, operational policies, and performance monitoring to be introduced.

Acute medicine was formally recognised as a specialty in general medicine in 2003, but practice continues to vary, and there is debate about the precise remit and standards for the specialty, the configuration and integration of the multiprofessional team, and the delivery of appropriate training.

The conference, organised by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and held in Edinburgh last week, agreed a statement that makes a series of recommendations on multiprofessional working, relations with other health and social care services, education and training, and standards of care.

It says that acute medicine has a pivotal role in improving pathways of care. "Previously, care provided for acutely ill patients often involved delays in assessment, poor outcomes, and many . . . [Full text of this article]


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Acute medicine is the Foundation of medicine
David G Samuel
bmj.com, 23 Nov 2008 [Full text]
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