Acute Medicine Unit – Addenbrooke’s (Cambridge University) NHS Foundation Trust

Acute Care Hub (EAU4 and EAU5)

Situated above the emergency department, the two short-stay wards constitute our Acute Care Hub. These provide care for short-stay patients and during the initial acute phase of an admission. Patients are referred from the emergency department. Medical senior review is being carried out on these wards. Both wards have a dedicated consultant lead on a rotational basis. On EAU 4 the expected length of stay is <24 hours, on EAU5 < 72 hours. Excellent support is provided by allied professionals, as well as various clinical specialities. Daily multidisciplinary team meetings facilitate patient care and discharge planning. This is an excellent environment for trainees to gain the essential skills for the running of an Acute Medical Unit.

Outliers

A dedicated consultant led team looks after outlying patients under acute medicine. These are largely based on wards K3/CCU which are shared with cardiology. CCU acts like in most trust, as the medical high dependency unit. Trainees therefore get exposed to a wide range of acutely unwell patients and gain transferable skills in their management.

Emergency Department

Addenbrooke’s does not operate a conventional medical assessment unit. The medical take team is based in the emergency department where we work alongside emergency physicians. From there patients are discharged, referred to ambulatory or urgent outpatient pathways or admitted to relevant ward and specialty care. A significant proportion of the medical take is transferred to the Acute Care Hub run by acute medicine and geriatrics. A medical consultant is usually present in the emergency department between 9am and 10pm. During the 5pm and 10pm two medical consultants are on site. This helps provide senior input and guidance. The well supported environment provides an excellent learning opportunity for doctors in the transition period between CMT and higher medical training. It also allows more senior clinical decision makers to discuss complex clinical cases.

Ambulatory Care (EAU3) & Follow-up Clinics

Acute Medicine runs an Ambulatory Care Unit (EAU3). The unit is located above the emergency department and focuses on admission avoidance. A consultant is present between 9am and 5pm, a middle grade doctor between 12pm and 8pm. Pathways have been developed for the management of conditions such as suspected pulmonary embolism, cellulitis, syncope, atrial tachycardia, sub-acute diabetes, low risk upper gastro-intestinal bleeds, COPD, asthma, anaemia, ischaemic chest pain.

The Ambulatory Care Unit takes referrals from the Emergency Department and directly from GPs via a GP liaison service.  The unit is supported by dedicated nursing staff and direct access to a comprehensive range of investigative and diagnostic modalities. Ambulatory clinics are run jointly by a Consultant and trainee doctor, thereby offering excellent learning opportunities and gain all competencies needs for ambulatory care sign off on the JRCPTB curriculum

We also provide a Friday morning General Medical follow-up Clinic.

As a department we are lucky to have consultants with a wide variety of specialities who would be happy to help facilitate a particular interest and access to specialist clinics.