Capacity of intensive care units in Ghana.
J Crit Care
; 61: 76-81, 2021 02.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33099204
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To document the equipment, resource and bed capacity of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in the Republic of Ghana. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
Cross-sectional observational study of all operating ICUs in Ghana. Sixteen operating ICUs in 9 hospitals were identified and surveyed (13 adult and 3 pediatric ICUs).RESULTS:
There were a total of 113 adult and 36 pediatric ICU beds for a population of 30 million, (0.5 ICU beds per 100,000 people). The median number of staffed ICU beds and ventilators were 5 (IQR 4-6), and 4 (IQR 3-5) respectively. There were 2 pediatric and 6 adult intensivists practicing in the country. About half of the ICUs (56%) were staffed solely by non-intensivist providers. While there is adequate nursing support and availability of essential critical care medications, the current financing model for critical care delivery creates a significant barrier for most patients.CONCLUSION:
Ghana has a significant shortage of critical care beds that are inequitably distributed across the country and a shortfall of intensivists to staff ICUs. A holistic approach that focuses on the key bottlenecks to quality improvement would be required to improve the capacity and quality of critical care delivery.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Cuidados Críticos
/
Unidades de Terapia Intensiva
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article