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Survival rates of intensive care patients have increased markedly over the last few decades due to advances in critical care medicine, processes of care and organ support technologies. But what is the quality of life like for patients, during and after critical care treatment, and how can we measure and improve this? Managing the longer-term impacts for intensive care patients and their families remains a major challenge.
Leaving hospital after a critical illness marks the beginning of a whole new chapter in someone’s life; for some readjusting to prolonged recovery in the outside world can seem overwhelming. Many healthcare providers are often under-informed about post-intensive care patients, and their needs, and this can lead to further problems, and sometimes even a return to hospital. The factors affecting rehabilitation of intensive care patients, and how to improve long-term outcomes, are key areas of interest for Imperial College researchers.
In his inaugural lecture Professor Stephen Brett will tell the story of intensive care, from its origins in Florence Nightingale’s battlefield hospitals, to the development of current critical care medicine. He will cover what happens to patients in critical care and its potential long-term consequences and how recent work may re-shape the way we help people recover.
Professor Stephen Brett is head for research for the Directorate of Anaesthetics and Critical Care within Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, leading the Centre for Perioperative Medicine and Critical Care Research and Professor of Critical Care at Imperial College.
Professor Brett’s personal research interests are in understanding and optimizing long term outcomes after critical illness. He is chief investigator for a number of clinical studies both locally and nationally. He recently lead the NICE guideline development group which published the guideline “Rehabilitation after Critical Illness”. Prof. Brett is President of the Intensive Care Society and is an Editor of the journal Critical Care. In addition he serves on a number of Department of Health advisory groups, and provides consultancy to industry in the fields of clinical trial design and supervision, and marketing.