GPICS 2nd Edition Launch
The Intensive Care Society and Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine launches the second edition of Guideline for the Provision of Intensive Care Services (GPICS)
The Intensive Care Society and Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) are excited to launch the second edition of the Guidelines for the Provision of Intensive Care Services (GPICS).
The launch of these updated guidelines continues to advance the way in which we approach the delivery of critical care within the UK and supports all those professions which contribute to the multidisciplinary intensive care community.
The first edition of GPICS (2015) was a landmark publication for adult critical care across the United Kingdom. It soon became the definitive source for the planning, commissioning, delivery and quality improvement of adult critical care services including underpinning the visiting standards for the Care Quality Commission and NHS England’s Service Specification for Adult Critical Care.
Over the last four years the Intensive Care Society and Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine has drawn input from all areas of intensive care to deliver this updated guidance. A comprehensive review was undertaken we have further developed the foundations on which GPICS (2015) was built. We received 600 comments in response to the consultation draft of GPICS 2019 which is a testament to the value placed on it by the very health care professionals responsible for delivering patient care.
This edition has seen a rise from 19 to 27 endorsing and supporting organisations, covering the multiprofessional intensive care community, interacting services, specialist societies and the devolved nations, solidifying the importance of GPICS and the essential framework it provides to all those working in critical care within the UK.
In response to requests by the intensive care community, GPICs edition includes a number of new chapters including guidance for remote and rural units, capacity management, focused ultrasound and serious infection outbreak. The clinical topics have been incorporated into chapters relating to the provision of support for each of the main organ systems. Relevant, high quality, evidence based clinical guidelines produced by other professional bodies are signposted within these chapters.
Chair of the ICS Standards Division, Dr Stephen Webb said “The importance of GPICS cannot be underestimated, its role is to improve the standards of care that critically ill patients receive and to reduce geographical variation.”
“In practical terms GPICS is written to assist and support units to develop their services to deliver the highest quality patient care”. “The standards from the first edition have not been changed unless there has been new evidence presented, or widespread professional views expressed, to justify modification. The second edition focuses on service delivery, quality and safety with less emphasis on specific clinical practice guidelines. Individual chapters relating to the provision of support for each of the main organ systems have replaced the previous clinical sections.”
Chair of FICM Professional Affairs and Safety Committee, Dr Pete Macnaughton said, “We encourage all units to continue to use GPICS as the driver and focus for where to develop and enhance their local service for the benefit of patient care."
