Acute Medicine

The Department of Acute Medicine was first established at UHCW in 2004. The service provides a consultant delivered service for the acutely ill medical patients presenting through the Emergency Department. It also provides a rapid access service for patients referred directly by their GP to the MDU as an alternative to the pathway through the Emergency Department.

Acute Medicine is closely integrated with both Emergency Medicine and Medical Specialties. Recently the delivery of urgent care at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has undergone a major initiative in 2014, Getting Emergency Care Right, which has resulted in a significant improvement in the care of patients in Coventry and Warwickshire:                                        

Pathway of Care for Acute Medicine

Acute emergency medical patients are managed through the Emergency Department or if they have been seen by their GP and discussed with the GP liaison service directed to Medical Decisions Unit (MDU). All medical alerts transfer immediately to the Resuscitation area in the Emergency Department and are managed initially by the Emergency Department. If appropriate, a referral is then made to the 1st on Medical SpR to provide support and ongoing care. Senior support to these patients is then provided by the Consultants in Acute Medicine and the Consultant for General Medicine.

Emergency medical patients who do not require transfer to the Resuscitation area are referred to the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) flow coordinator who identifies the most appropriate location for the patient to be managed using direct transfer criteria.

AMU Flow Coordinators are assisted by a Bronze Commander, a senior clinician when the Trust is on internal incident (black alert).

Our Clinical areas within Acute Medicine are:

  • Acute Medical Unit-1 (AMU-1)
  • Acute Medicine Unit-2 (AMU-2)
  • Medical Decisions Unit
  • Ambulatory Emergency Clinic (AEC)
  • Short Stay Ward
  • Acute Medical Unit 3 (AMU-3)

Find out about our clinical areas here.

Departmental Staffing Structure

There are 10 Substantive Consultant Physicians and 3 Locum Consultant Physicians, 8 Senior and Junior Fellows and 9 CMTs in Acute Medicine. All other Medical CMTs (in groups of 9) and F1s rotate through acute medicine in 1 month blocks

Junior Doctors

There are 2 senior clinical fellows and 3 junior clinical fellows with Foundation and Core Medical trainees rotating through the department.

To find out about our Departmental Staffing Structure click here

Integration of Acute Medicine with the Medical Specialties

There is close integration with the Medical Specialties. A number of the Physicians in acute medicine are also working in other specialties, Renal, Endocrinology, Intensive Care and Gastroenterology.

There is an on-call Rota for General Medicine for Emergency Admissions. The General Medical Rota allows for the presence of the Consultant for General Medicine from 5pm to 8.30pm Monday to Friday and on-call cover in the nights and weekends.

For information on the Management Structure of the department click here