Introduction
Scope and purpose Guideline development Working group Conflicts of interest Funding Acknowledgements The guideline aims to provide minimum standards for the provision of critical care services in South Africa. The intention is to ensure high quality critical care that focuses on patient safety and improving the outcome of critically ill patients, and that is appropriate to the South African conte
The guideline aims to provide minimum standards for the provision of critical care services in South Africa. The intention is to ensure high quality critical care that focuses on patient safety and improving the outcome of critically ill patients, and that is appropriate to the South African context. The differences between the public and private sector are acknowledged, as are the uncertainties associated with the proposed National Health Insurance. Given the baseline variability between critical care units in South Africa and differences in access to resources, this first iteration of the guidelines should be read as best practice guidelines. The intention is for this first iteration to be used as a basis to uplift the standards of critical care units in the interval prior to the second edition of the guidelines. It is envisaged that the guidelines will be revised within five years of the publication of the current document with earlier revisions if required.
Scope and purpose
The guidelines are intended for use at all healthcare facilities in South Africa that provide care to critically ill patients. They are intended for use by healthcare personnel involved in the provision of care to critically ill patients, including, but not limited to, nurses, doctors, dieticians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, pharmacists, psychologists, and clinical technologists. They are also intended for use by administrative personnel and management at the level of healthcare institutions and by funders.
Guideline development
The guidelines were developed by a working group of the Critical Care Society of Southern Africa (CCSSA). The working group comprised K de Vasconcellos, PD Gopalan and F Paruk. Draft guidelines were developed after reviewing current local guidelines and regulations relevant to critical care, international guidelines on the provision of critical care services and current data on the provision of critical care services in South Africa. The initial draft guideline was reviewed by the CCSSA council and modified accordingly. The amended draft was emailed to members of the CCSSA and was published on the CCSSA website with a call for public comment. Comments received were considered and the guidelines revised by the working group. Specific further input was requested from the CCSSA private practice critical care physicians’ group and the CCSSA critical care nurses committee. All input was considered, and a final draft guideline was presented to the CCSSA council which was accepted for final approval at a CCSSA council meeting on 10 June 2022.
Working group
K de Vasconcellos MBChB, FCA (SA), Cert Crit Care (SA), MMedSci (UKZN)
PD Gopalan MBChB, FCA (SA), Cert Crit Care (SA)(peer review), PhD (UKZN)
F Paruk MBChB, FCOG, Cert Crit Care, PhD (Clinical Medicine)
On behalf of the Critical Care Society of Southern Africa
Conflicts of interest
K de Vasconcellos has no conflicts of interest to declare.
PD Gopalan has no conflicts of interest to declare
F Paruk has no conflicts of interest to declare
Funding
No specific funding was required for the creation of the guideline.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all members of the CCSSA council for their contributions to the development of this document. We would also like to thank members of the CCSSA private practice group and all others who submitted comments on the document. These comments contributed greatly to the final document.
Critical Care Society of Southern Africa Guidelines for the Provision of Critical Care Services in South Africa - Critical Care Society of Southern Africa - Version 1: July 2022