Adult Critical Care Network 

What is Critical Care?
Critical Care is the delivery of specialised care by multi-professional healthcare experts for patients whose conditions are life-threatening and who require comprehensive care and constant monitoring usually provided in Intensive Care and/or High Dependency Units. Collectively these are generally referred to as Critical Care areas.

Critical Care helps people with life-threatening injuries and illnesses. It might treat problems that occur as a result of complications from surgery, accidents, infections, and severe breathing problems.

Our History

The Lancashire and South Cumbria Critical Care Network has been in existence since 2001 and was formed to "improve access, experience and outcomes for patients with potential or actual need for Critical Care", within a defined geographical area.
Comprehensive Critical Care: Department of Health (2000).

Subsequent documents provided key recommendations for action; this was to be achieved through optimising the care delivery systems resulting in:
  • A hospital-wide approach to early identification and assessment of critically ill patients
  • Effective, humane and equitable care to those in need - patients and carers.
  • The right care in the right place at the right time, given by the right people
  • Measurement, evaluation and action to continue to improve access, experience and outcome of the patient
  • A supported, developed and valued team
  • Prediction of demand and planning of capacity across the whole health care system

Although the Network has evolved over the years its activities still hold true to these goals. Further details on the role of Critical Care Networks can be found within:
  • Comprehensive Critical Care – A Review of Adult Critical Care Services: Report of the National Expert Group on Critical Care (Department of Health 2000)
  • Quality Critical Care – Beyond Comprehensive Critical Care” (September 2005) 
  • Developing Operational Delivery Networks (2012)

Network Structure

The Lancashire and South Cumbria Critical Care Network evolved into an Operational Delivery Network in 2013 and is one of 20 Adult Critical Care ODNs across England, NI and Wales.

The ODN team continues to be hosted by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which is one of our 4 member NHS provider trusts in the region.
Other stakeholder members make for effective collaboration and wider dissemination of our work through use of healthcare professionals from the other NHS organisations; these include local Clinical and Management Leaders, from across the wider multi-professional team.

For more information about our stakeholders click here >>>>
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