Liverpool Hospital

Liverpool Intensive Care Unit

Unit Services

Liverpool Intensive Care Unit (ICU) provides the highest level of intensive care in south western Sydney. We are a tertiary referral hospital and care for people from our local area and accept patients from other hospitals in this area health service who need more complicated care. The ICU comprises three sections with a total of 26 funded beds. We care for critically ill patients with a wide variety of health problems. Patients in the unit may be admitted as a result of major trauma, post surgical (such as cardiac surgery, lung surgery, abdominal surgery or vascular surgery), respiratory problems requiring support with breathing (ventilators), renal problems requiring support (dialysis) and various other clinical conditions that require constant monitoring and high level of medical and nursing care.

As patients recover and when they no longer require ICU care they may be transferred to a ward as soon as a bed becomes available. Patients from other hospitals are taken back to their original hospital when they are well enough. This makes it easier for family members and friends to visit them.

Unit Staff

The unit comprises of a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians, ward administrative officers, ward orderlies and cleaners. Generally one nurse will care for each critically ill patient. Often these patients require close monitoring and support with thier breathing and may be on a ventilator. As patients improve and become more stable the ratio may change with one nurse caring for two patients. 

The unit has the help of Allied Health Professionals such as physiotherapists, dietitians and a social worker through the day. There are also speech pathologists, pharmacists and occupational therapists available to assist patients.

At the moment we have a staff of approximately one hundred and thirty (130) nurses who work a variety of shifts. These shifts can be from 4 to 12 hours long.

We have a team of twenty seven (27) doctors. Ten (10) of these doctors are staff specialists in intensive care (they have trained in intensive care medicine) - they are responsible for overall care of the patients within ICU. At least three or more are present in the ICU each day. This team also includes six (6) senior registrars, eighteen (18) registars and two (2) resident doctors. These doctors are rostered on alternating 12 hour shifts to provide medical care for patients twenty-four (24) hours a day.

There are Nurse Unit Mangers, a Clinical Nurse Consultant and a Nurse Practitioner who all contribute to maintaining a high standard of nursing care for our patients. On each shift there is a senior nurse who is in charge of the unit who manages staffing and patient flow. Two (2) full time nurse educators provide education and assistance to the staff in ICU to enable safe and competentdelivery of care. Many of the nurses in our unit have undertaken specialised courses in intensive care nursing. studied intensive care nursing.

Visitor Services  

• Expectations of Visitors: We try to limit the number of visitors to 2 at any one given time- this is for patient safety reasons. This is flexible and could vary at the discretion of the ICU team. We request that all visitors adhere to the unit's infection control guidelines. This involves washing their hands prior to and after visiting patients (they can utilise the alcohol hand gels available on trolleys located outside each unit). Plastic aprons also need to be worn while visiting patients.
• Visiting Hours: The ICU visiting hours are 8am-9am and 12noon-8pm. We understand that you are concerened about your critically ill relative/friend and are flexible with visiting times in special circumstances.
• Mobile Phones: Mobile phones are to be switched OFF while visiting patients as they can interfere with the functioning of medical equipment used in ICU.
• Waiting rooms: There is a waiting room for visitors located outside ICU. During the daytime there are volunteers to assist with providing you information. The phone numbers for all the units, namely ICU 1, ICU 2 and ICU 3 are displayed in the waiting room. Phone the unit you requireand please wait for a staff member to let you into the unit. You may be asked to wait while the patient receives necessary attention. We apologise for any delay that this may cause.
• Flowers: Due to infection control reasons we do not allow flowers in the unit.
• Visitor Accomodation: There is limited hospital accomodation available for visitors. Should you require to organise this the phone number and details can be obtained from enquiries or through the hospital switchboard.
• Support Services (eg Social Worker/Pastoral Care): we can organise for you to see a social worker should you have any queries or require support. Pastoral care should you desire it, can also be arranged.
• Hospital shop/Canteen: The hospital has a gift shop, cafeteria and coffee shop all located on the ground floor near the Main Entrance.
• ATM: There is a multicard ATM located on the ground floor opposite the coffee shop.
• Phones: Public payphones are located in the main entrance opposite switchboard.
• Parking: There are two car parks available for visitors- one is the undercover car park located under the main entrance. The second is the multi storey located on Campbell Street. Daily parking rates apply.
• Hospital Patient Liason: There is a hospital patient liason officer available should you have any issues that require discussion. Their contact details can be obtained via the hospital switchboard.
• Finding the ICU: The ICU is located on the second floor of the clinical services building and can be accessed via the elevators located next to the enquiries counter. Take the elevator to the second floor and follow the signs pointing to ICU.

Other Hospital Services

Liverpool Hospital was the first hospital to introduce a 'Medical Emergency Team', which is led by the doctors and nurses from intensive care. This team responds to emergency calls within the hospital and provides assessment and mangement for individuals/patients in the hospital who have a serious, sudden deterioration in their condition.

Our hospital also has a Coronary Care Unit (for patients with heart problems) and a Dialysis Unit (for patients with kidney problems).

Liverpool ICU is a dynamic unit. It values every team member and their involvement in providing expert care for our patients.

We are engaged in research both within the unit and with other hospitals and universities. This helps to ensure our health care is up to date and the best that science can provide.

There is a strong commitment to care for our patients, their families and carers. We value our multicultural environment and diversity.

How To Get To Liverpool Hospital

A map of the hospitals's location is below. A more detailed map can be found at the Whereis Online WebSite.