Acute medicine

Acute medicine is a hospital specialty focused on rapidly assessing, diagnosing, and initially managing adults with urgent medical illness, often before deciding on admission or specialist care.

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Acute medical unit: A hospital ward providing short-term assessment and treatment for adults with acute medical conditions. It provides the dedicated setting where many acute medicine assessments and early treatments take place.
Internal medicine: The medical specialty concerned with diagnosing and treating diseases affecting adults, especially complex or multisystem conditions. Acute medicine is a focused part of the broader practice of adult internal medicine.
Sepsis: Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated response to infection. Recognising and treating suspected sepsis quickly is a frequent acute medicine priority.
Hospital medicine: The practice of caring for patients during hospital stays, coordinating diagnosis, treatment, and transitions of care. Acute medicine is one front-end service within the wider organisation of adult hospital care.
Triage: The process of ranking patients by urgency to guide the order and level of care. Prioritising urgency helps acute teams identify patients needing immediate intervention.
Emergency medicine: The specialty that evaluates and treats patients with urgent injuries and illnesses in emergency departments. It shares urgent presentations with acute medicine but is based in the emergency department and includes trauma care.
Acute coronary syndrome: A group of conditions caused by sudden reduced blood flow to the heart, including heart attack and unstable angina. Chest pain assessment must rapidly identify patients needing urgent cardiac treatment.
Patient flow: The movement of patients through healthcare services, from arrival and assessment to treatment and discharge. Acute units are designed to assess patients promptly and reduce delays in onward care.
Differential diagnosis: A structured list of possible explanations for a patient's signs and symptoms. Acute presentations often begin with uncertainty, so clinicians compare plausible causes before settling on a diagnosis.
General practitioner: A physician who provides primary medical care, usually outside the hospital, and coordinates ongoing care. Primary care often identifies the acute illness and refers patients for hospital assessment when needed.