Table 4.
Summary of high-acuity care area characteristics. IQR, inter-quartile range; NIV, non-invasive ventilation.
| Overall | UK | Australia | New Zealand | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 147 | 109 | 21 | 17 | |
| Total beds (median [IQR]) | 4 (3, 8) | 4 (3, 7) | 4 (4, 8) | 5 (4, 10) | 0.133 |
| Patient-to-nurse ratio (median [IQR]) | 2 (2, 4) | 2 (2, 4) | 2 (2, 4) | 2 (2, 3) | 0.983 |
| Responsible consultant (%) | 0.457 | ||||
| Intensivist | 7 (4.8) | 7 (6.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Multi-specialty joint care | 34 (23.1) | 28 (25.7) | 3 (14.3) | 3 (17.6) | |
| Perioperative anaesthetist | 15 (10.2) | 13 (11.9) | 1 (4.8) | 1 (5.9) | |
| Surgeon | 73 (49.7) | 50 (45.9) | 13 (61.9) | 10 (58.8) | |
| Other specialty | 18 (12.2) | 11 (10.1) | 4 (19.0) | 3 (17.6) | |
| Able to provide continuous observations/monitoring (%) | 128 (87.1) | 94 (86.2) | 19 (90.5) | 15 (88.2) | 0.859 |
| Able to provide invasive blood pressure monitoring (%) | 83 (56.5) | 66 (60.6) | 10 (47.6) | 7 (41.2) | 0.220 |
| Able to manage vasoactive infusions (%) | 64 (43.5) | 46 (42.2) | 9 (42.9) | 9 (52.9) | 0.707 |
| Able to provide invasive ventilation (%) | 6 (4.1) | 6 (5.5) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0.336 |
| Able to provide non-invasive ventilation/CPAP (NIV/CPAP) (%) | 56 (38.1) | 37 (33.9) | 12 (57.1) | 7 (41.2) | 0.129 |
| Able to manage epidural catheters (%) | 101 (68.7) | 74 (67.9) | 19 (90.5) | 8 (47.1) | 0.015 |