An acute admissions unit is a short-stay department in some

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n and

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hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

s that may be linked to the

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

, but functions as a separate department. The AMU acts as a gateway between a patient's general practitioner, the emergency department, and the wards of the hospital. The AMU helps the emergency department produce a healthy turnaround for patients, helping with the four-hour waiting rule in the United Kingdom. An AMU is usually made up of several bays and has a small number of side-rooms and treatment rooms. They are fully equipped with emergency medical treatment facilities including

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s and

resuscitation Resuscitation is the process of correcting physiological disorders (such as lack of breathing or heartbeat) in an acutely ill patient. It is an important part of intensive care medicine, anesthesiology, trauma surgery and emergency medicine. W ...

equipment.

Patients

From the emergency department, patients can be moved to AMU where they will undergo further tests and stabilisation before they are transferred to the relevant ward or sent home. Also, patients can be admitted straight to AMU from their general practitioner if he or she believes the patient needs hospital treatment. A patient's stay in the unit is limited, usually no more than 48 hours. The AMU deals with admissions only, patients will never be transferred from a ward to the AMU. Surgical procedures are not carried out in the unit either; these are referred on to the relevant theatre such as cardiothoracics and general surgery.

Staff

Senior staff in an AMU typically include a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

acute medicine Acute medicine is a specialty within internal medicine concerned with the immediate and early specialist management of adult patients with a wide range of medical conditions who present in hospital as emergencies. It developed in the United Kingdom ...

, general medicine,

emergency medicine Emergency medicine is the medical speciality concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (often called “ER doctors” in the United States) continuously learn to care for unsche ...

, or critical care. Often a

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in general medicine, and a

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or a

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have roles in the unit. A number of staff nurses work alongside the senior staff to provide care to patients in the unit. The department can also include pharmacists, who carry out duties such as medical history taking. Although AMU has its own staff trained to deal with patients and provide care, members of staff from other departments in the hospital are needed in AMU to assess patients and provide further diagnosis. Typical examples of staff who may be needed in AMU are

general surgeon General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid g ...

cardiothoracic surgeons Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal struc ...

cardiologists Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart d ...

, and a psychiatric liaison nurse.

Alternative names for the department

Current

The name "acute medical unit" is recommended by the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

in its 2007 acute medicine report. Despite this, many hospitals use different names for the department. Common names for this department are: *Acute Assessment Unit (AAU) *Acute Admissions Unit (AAU) *Acute Medical Unit (AMU) *Assessment and Diagnostic Unit (ADU) *Children's Acute Assessment Unit (CAA) *Emergency Assessment Unit (EAU) *Emergency Care Unit (ECU) *Medical Assessment and Planning Unit (MAPU) - in Australia and New Zealand

Former names

*Emergency Medical Assessment/Admissions Unit (EMAU) *Medical Assessment Unit (MAU)Frimley Park Hospital: ''Medical assessment unit (MAU)''
Linked 2013-07-20

References