This course will cover the concept of severity scoring, predicted mortality, standardised mortality ratios and National bench-marking in Critical Care as well as the use of Morbidity and Mortality reviews for learning and education. The principles of quality improvement and clinical audit will also be discussed.

A variety of teaching methods including lectures, seminars, tutorials and work based learning will be scheduled throughout semester 1.

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1. 1000 word report. (80%)

2. Set exercise (20%)  

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the broader non-clinical aspects of Critical Care. The students will gain insights into how quality of care is measured and benchmarked against other Critical Care units Nationally. Students will also be introduced the concept of reflective practice using structured Morbidity and Mortality reviews and how this process can be used for learning and improving standards. The students will gain an appreciation of the importance of ongoing audit and quality improvement in Critical Care.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Critically evaluate the performance of a unit (ICU or similar) in comparison to national and international standards.

2. Apply management strategies in response to common problems and issues arising in critical care or related fields.

3. Demonstrate how to implement change and improve quality of clinical care with particular reference to clinical audit

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.