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Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

What is an ICU?

An ICU is a department of a hospital in which patients who are dangerously ill are kept under constant observation.

At University Hospital Crosshouse we have a purpose-designed, high-quality, 14 bedded critical care unit with a team of experienced doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers, pharmacists and other allied health professionals. We have 9 intensive care consultants who are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. For more information about our unit, click here.

How we perform

We submit data annually to the Scottish Intensive Care Society (SICS). This includes our unit case mix, length of ICU and hospital stay, infection rates and mortality. This information can be accessed here.

Visiting

Due to the nature of ICU, the procedures carried out in our unit and the vulnerability of our patients to infection, our visiting guidelines are different than in the main hospitals.

  • Visitors are generally welcome from 2:30pm to 4pm, and 6pm to 7pm every day.
  • Visiting is restricted to two visitors at any one time and only immediate next of kin and close family are allowed to visit.
  • To respect our patient’s confidentiality, there is no visiting during the doctors’ ward round.
  • It may be that we have to vary visiting times and interrupt visits due to the condition of our patients or the care they need. 
  • Children, in some circumstances, may be allowed to visit, but this should be discussed in advance with the bedside nurse or the nurse in charge. 
  • Visitors must ring the doorbell and wait for a member of staff before entering the unit. 
  • Please enter and leave through the emergency department between 10pm and 6.30am.

As patients in the ICU are more vulnerable to infection, we ask you:

  • to remove outer coats or jackets and leave them on the peg provided making sure that there are no valuables left in your pockets;
  • to wash your hands before and after visiting at the sink areas provided;
  • not to bring plants or flowers into the unit; and
  • to speak to the nursing staff before entering the main unit if you have been in contact with infectious diseases, such as chicken pox and shingles.

We appreciate your co-operation with us and will always ensure that you have enough time to spend with your relative.

ICU – Glossary

When you or your relative are in the ICU you will inevitably hear words or abbreviations that are unfamiliar to you. This is a short list of commonly used terms and what they mean.

  • Blood gas machine – A machine which measures the blood gases.
  • Blood gases – A blood test to check the level of oxygen, carbon dioxide and acidity which may be done several times a day.
  • Carbon dioxide – This is the waste gas eliminated by the lungs.
  • Catheter – Used to empty a patient’s bladder.
  • CCU/ICU/ITU – Intensive Care Units can be referred to by various names which mean the same thing, for example Critical Care Unit (CCU), Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU). The unit cares for patients with acute illness or injury that require specialised procedures and treatments by specialised staff.
  • Central line – A line is inserted into the patient in order for liquids/drugs to be passed into their veins.
  • Dialysis/Filtration – ​This is a kidney dialysis machine that is used to remove toxins from the blood when a patient has kidney failure. 
  • Delirium – This is a very common problem often seen in ICU when he sedation patients are receiving are reduced or stopped. 
  • ECG – This is a recording of the electrical activity of the heart, and in ICU it is displayed on the monitor above the patients’ bed space. 
  • Endotracheal tube – This tube is inserted through either the patient’s nose or throat into the windpipe and is sometimes referred to as an ET tube.
  • pO2 – Blood oxygen level.
  • Pulse oximeter – A probe that wraps around a hand or foot, connected to a machine, which measures how much oxygen the blood is carrying.
  • Sats/Saturation – This refers to the patients’ blood oxygen level. The normal blood oxygen saturation is 97-100% however in the ICU patients’ often have levels much lower than this.
  • Sedation – Medications we use to keep patients comfortable during their time in ICU. The level of sedation we give a patient will vary on a daily basis depending on how they are coping and how sick they are. The medications we use are usually a combination of an anaesthetic drug and a pain killer.
  • Speaking valve – This allows a patient with a tracheostomy to use their voice and is only used as the patient’s condition improves.
  • Suction – Mechanical removal of mucous from the nose, throat or endotracheal tube with a plastic tube.
  • Tracheostomy – A tracheostomy (or ‘trachy’) is a tube inserted into the windpipe via a hole in the patient’s throat. This sounds very daunting and can look strange, but it is much more comfortable for the patient and means they can be awake.
  • Ventilator – Also known as a breathing machine, this piece of equipment blows air and oxygen in and out of the lungs. The breathing machine can do all the breathing for the patient or it can assist the patient’s own breathing.
  • Weaning – ​The process of taking a patient off the ventilator once they are able to breathe on their own.

ICU – Medical staff

We have 10 consultant anaesthetists with training in critical care medicine.

All patients in the ICU are reviewed on a daily basis by a consultant who is supported by highly experienced nurses and a multi-disciplinary team including physiotherapists, pharmacists and dieticians. We have close links to other medical and surgical specialities throughout the hospital and on-call consultant cover is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Consultant medical staff:

  • Dr Gordon Houston, Clinical Lead Critical Care
  • Dr John Allan – Interests in chocardiography, quality improvement, and medical informatics.
    Dr Jane Chestnut – Interest in education.
  • Dr Tim Geary, Paediatric Anaesthetist, Foundation Year Programme Director with an interest in paediatric transfer medicine (SCOTSTAR).
  • Dr Phil Korsah, Associate Medical Director
  • Dr Alistair Meikle, Clinical Lead-Organ Donation (NHSBT), FICM Tutor, with interests in critical care transfers, and quality improvement.
  • Dr Hugh Neill, Director of Medical Education
  • Dr Peter O’Brien, Audit Co-ordinator with interests in patient safety, quality improvement, ICU Rehabilitation (InSPIRE).
  • Dr Alison Speirs – Interests in medical HDU liaison, palliative care, and patient safety.
  • Dr Nicola Willis, Paediatric Anaesthetist

ICU – Nursing staff

We have thirty six nursing staff experienced in caring for critically ill patients. Our senior charge nurse is David Kimmett and we have a team of senior nurses who act as shift leaders who are responsible for the day-to-day running of ICU.

Patients have an allocated nurse to look after them on a daily basis. This ensures that patients are cared for by staff with skills and experience appropriate to their particular condition. 

​There are often junior or student nurses on duty who are constantly supervised by more experienced staff.