FICM Launch: Life After Critical Illness guide
We are pleased to announce the publication of Life After Critical Illness (LACI): A guide for developing and delivering aftercare services for critically ill patients. This report was produced as part of the Critical Futures initiative, looking to the future for critical care services.
The world has changed! The advent of COVID-19 means the world may never be the same again. In the UK the acute and critical care communities were at the forefront of caring for this huge flux of critically ill patients and came close to being overwhelmed; amazingly and impressively they prevailed and minimised the loss of life. This influx of critically ill patients has not been witnessed in any of our lifetimes but now it is time to deal with the aftermath.
LACI builds on the clinical practice experience, the evidence base and the existing national guidance available in the UK to give clear and detailed guidance to clinicians in the hospital and community settings, to hospitals, to regional health care providers and to commissioners, on how to develop, deliver and fund these services.
Survivorship following critical illness is often characterised by reduced quality of life, delayed return to work and physical, psychological and cognitive impairments. A comprehensive online survey commissioned by FICM that was sent to all hospitals within the UK shows that post ICU recovery services across all four nations are lacking.
FICM would like to thank:
- Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care
- British Dietetic Association
- British Psychological Society
- British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine
- Intensive Care Society (consultation and review)
- Royal College of Nursing
- Royal College of Occupational Therapists
- Scottish Intensive Care Society
- UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance
- UK Clinical Pharmacy Association
- Life after critical illness
- LACI