A report on the activity, interventions and outcomes of critical care services in NHS Scotland for 2018 was published by ISD Scotland, Health Protection Scotland and the Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group.
They found that no intensive care unit had a significantly higher mortality rate compared to the rest of Scotland. Delayed discharges from critical care continue to be a challenge for units, which is mostly due to bed shortages in other areas of the hospital.
It was also found that while many units have made progress over the last year towards attaining the minimum standards and achieving improvements in quality indicators, others continue to find this challenging.
The College said:
Intensive Care Units are performing well in Scotland, and it is encouraging to see night time discharges remaining low - at 4%. This report does highlight some delayed discharges within critical care and it's important to ensure that hospitals are properly resourced, including enough staffed beds to maintain quality of care.
