Research Review: Effect of the critical care outreach team on patient survival to discharge from hospital and readmission to critical care: non-randomised population based study

While many descriptive studies about the UK model for critical care outreach have been published recently1, this publication documents a rigorous implementation and evaluation plan for determining the effect of a critical care outreach team in one hospital. The authors are highly regarded clinical experts with postgraduate preparation; the first author, who has doctoral qualifications, has previously published on the UK outreach services2,3. In their literature review, the authors provide a brief historical overview of outreach service in the UK and identify its similarities and differences to the Australian medical emergency teams•· 5 that are emerging. They note that rigorous evaluation data has not yet substantiated the effect of outreach teams, thus highlighting the significance of their research.Griffith Health, School of Nursing and MidwiferyFull Tex