title: The acute physicians unit in scarborough hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of Acute Physicians Unit (APU) in Scarborough Hospital is consultant led delivery of acute medical care. It operates weekdays from 9am to 5pm, staffed by a consultant physician, a trained nurse and an auxiliary nurse. We reviewed the APU activity over 38 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  7170 patients were referred to APU, mainly from GPs (59.6%) and A&E (26.5%). The most common type of referrals: cardiovascular 21%, neurological 16.9% and respiratory 15.1%. It prevented admission in 2217 cases (30.9%): 22.4% were sent home after assessment in APU and in 8.5% telephone advice was sufficient.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The APU has led to early consultant review in 53% of admissions, discharge of 31% of patients and is a useful source of consultation for GPs.
authors: Department of Medicine, Scarborough Hospital.
authors: Kayvan
authors: K
authors: Khadjooi
authors: Christos
authors: C
authors: Dimopoulos
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Paterson