Surveys

ICS Survey Policy

The Following surveys have been reviewed by the Society's Executive Committee and Chair of the Research Committee and we encourage member participation. Due to the high demand for the Society to assist with the distribution of surveys, before submitting a survey to the ICS, please see our policy and guidelines on the consideration and approval of surveys. 

Survey 1

Survey Title: Survey of all UK Intensive Care Units to ascertain if there is any protocol currently in use for non communicating level 3 patients to assess their level of pain.

Link to Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GTXCBZH

Survey conducted by: Theresa McMillan RN, Research Nurse and Dr Alex Keeshan Anaesthetic & Critical Care Consultant

Contact: theresa.mcmillan@uhl-tr.nhs.uk

Survey 2

Survey Title: Attitudes of Consultant Intensivists in the United Kingdom to Withdrawal of Futile Therapy

Introduction: The survey takes approximately 5 minutes to complete and is aimed specifically at consultants in the UK practising intensive care medicine.
Current guidelines about end of life care and withdrawal of futile therapy in intensive care are not prescriptive and it has been acknowledged that there is a wide variation in the actual process of withdrawing care1.  It is not clear how wide this variation is.
The aim of this survey is to determine the current practice and attitudes of UK consultants in intensive care medicine when withdrawing futile life sustaining therapy.
The results of this survey will help inform debate by the intensive care community in this ethically challenging area in the future.

1.    Organ Donation after Circulatory Death.  Report of a Consensus Meeting held in June 2010.  http://www.ics.ac.uk/professional/standards_safety_quality/standards_and_guidelines/dcd

Link to survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L3GNV8M

Survey conducted by: Michael Irvine, Maryanne Mariyaselvam, Joseph Carter, Peter Young
On Behalf of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn Intensive Care Research Foundation

Contact: m.irvine@doctors.org.uk

Closing date: 30th May 2013

Survey 3

Survey Title: Attitudes to the potential development and use of units providing weaning from mechanical ventilation away from critical care in the United Kingdom

Introduction: This survey aims to gauge the opinions and views of intensive care medical and AHP staff to the development of long term ventilation and weaning units outside traditional acute intensive care units. As far back as 2002 the Modernisation Agency published a report which recommended that facilities for dedicated weaning from invasive ventilation, predicated on experience in the use of non-invasive ventilation and with the
necessary skills and expertise to manage tracheostomy ventilated patients long term in the community should be created. As far as we are aware there are very few units in the UK that would fit this remit. We would therefore like to identify how many regions in the UK have such a facility and the opinion of the intensive care fraternity as to their benefit. This is an important issue and very topical at a time when specialised respiratory services are under consideration for commissioning. This includes "complex ventilation," referring to
weaning from ventilation and long term tracheostomy ventilation. The service specification is in line with the Modernisation Agency's recommendations in 2002.  We therefore feel that it is timely to review the attitudes of the intensive care community towards the development of such units

Link to survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WeaningandLongTermVentilationinUK

Survey conducted by: Dr Robert Parker, Consultant in Intensive Care & Respiratory Medicine, Aintree Hospital, Liverpool. Dr Andrew Bentley, Consultant in Intensive Care & Respiratory Medicine, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester.

Contact: andrew.bentley@manchester.ac.uk or robert.parker@aintree.nhs.uk

Closing date: 30th May 2013