Critical Care follow up

Many survivors of critical illness face a long and difficult recovery period. Physical and psychological problems, such as nightmares, anxiety and panic attacks are very common.

If you have spent more than three days on ACCU, you will be sent a letter two months after you have been discharged from hospital inviting you to attend our follow-up clinic.

Research has shown that a significant number of people who have had a critical illness may benefit from attending a follow-up appointment.

The one-hour appointment will provide you and your family or carer with an opportunity to discuss your experience with us and we will hopefully be able to answer any questions that you have about your illness or hospital stay.

It also offers us an opportunity to check that you are continuing to make good progress with your physical and psychological recovery. You will be offered the opportunity to see your bedspace.

Lastly it allows us to learn from you and your family, which in turn, will help us to continue to improve the care we provide for future patients and their relatives.

We understand the road to recovery is often a long and emotionally difficult journey. We also recognise that the journey for the patient and their family and friends is very different. The follow-up clinic provides an opportunity to better understand the challenges involved in these separate but related journeys.

Clinics run on Wednesdays, with appointments at 10am, 12noon and 2pm, and are led by a nurse. When you book, you will be asked questions which will let us know which specialist members of our team to invite to support you best at clinic.