Surgical Admissions Unit (SAU) |
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Admissions
- Are there any exclusion criteria for direct admits?
- What if my patient does not need an immediate emergency admission?
- What if my patient requires a minor surgical procedure?
Are there any exclusion criteria for direct admits?
Patients presenting with the following will not be suitable for the direct admit pathway and should be admitted to Emergency Department. These patients must still be discussed with the on call team.
- AAA (Known or suspected)
- Generalised peritonitis
- Haemorrhage
- Haemodynamically unstable
- Trauma patients
- Suspected perforation
- Urology patients
The Emergency Department is the best place to commence assessment and treatment of those patients who are cardio-vascularly unstable and/or who require resuscitation. These patients will be reviewed by a member of the on call team as possible.
After referring to the on call team, patients should be kept nil by mouth with appropriate analgesia given with sips of water. GPs should send a letter in with the patient, made out to the on-call surgical team with the name of the person taking the referral.
What if my patient does not need an immediate emergency admission?
We run an emergency clinic 7 days a week on SAU first thing in the morning.
2 slots are available per day and should be used for those patients who do not warrant an acute admission to A&E i.e. patients presenting with abscesses or patients who require urgent surgical opinion. These will be seen by the registrar or consultant and a plan formulated.
If this service is offered, please ask for the patient to attend the Surgical Admissions Unit at 8am with a letter and starved from midnight (analgesia and antibiotics can be taken with sips of water). A maximum number of 2 patients per day. These slots must only be allocated by the on call surgical team and must not be used as an alternative to urgent out patients.
What if my patient requires a minor surgical procedure?
There is a minor surgical procedure pathway/abscess pathway which is used to prevent unnecessary bed occupancy. This will be offered by the on call surgical team on a patient by patient basis.
Patients are clerked and examined by the on call team and if suitable, arrangements are made for them to return the following morning to Surgical Short Stay (Mon-Fri) and SAU (Sat and Sun). Patients are consented, bloods are taken and processed and they are placed on the Emergency theatre list for the following day. On the day of their surgery they are prioritised so it is unlikely they will require an overnight stay in hospital.
There are exclusion criteria, for example, anyone who is clinically unwell, insulin dependant diabetics and patients who do not have anyone to stay with them the night of their surgery. These patients will attend through the normal pathway