Århus University Hospital – collaboration between five hospitals

Examination, treatment and care of a high international standard and in an environment of close interaction between research, development and training. That is the objective for the hospitals of Århus. In 1990, this vision led to the formation of Aarhus University Hospital, in which the five hospitals in the city of Aarhus, the University of Aarhus and the County of Aarhus all collaborate. The five hospitals are: Århus Amtssygehus (Århus County Hospital), Århus Kommunehospital (Århus Municipal Hospital), Skejby Sygehus (Skejby Hospital), Psykiatrisk Hospital i Århus (Århus Psychiatric Hospital) and Børne- og Ungdomspsykiatrisk Hospital (Århus Child and Youth Psychiatric Hospital). Together, these hospitals cover all specialised medical areas. Aarhus University Hospital is the hospital for those living in and around Århus. Furthermore, the hospital receives patients for specialist treatment from the rest of the county and from the other counties in the west of Denmark.

From research to new treatment Through the University Hospital cooperation, the interrelationship between basic research, clinical research and clinical work in the hospitals has been strengthened. Among other things, this means that the route from research to the practical application of new knowledge in the hospitals has been shortened. Furthermore, a basis has been created whereby the practical part of the health staff training can now take place at a high level. For Aarhus University Hospital, it is an important objective to ensure that the quality of the hospital services is improved as new know-ledge comes to light. The hospital is therefore now cooperating on the development of a common system for the Danish health service concerning the measurement and improvement of quality within the health services. The objective: Good service Aarhus University Hospital emphasises soft values, for instance good communication between patients and health staff, ensuring that patients experience a complete and coherent hospital procedure from the referral from their general practitioner to the discharge and possible after-treatment.

The service provided to the patients of Aarhus University Hospital meets the service objectives that the County of Aarhus has set for the hospital area. This means that patients are entitled to examination and treatment within defined deadlines. If the deadlines cannot be met, the patient must be offered treatment at another hospital. The patients must also receive clear notification of the time of their examination and treatment as well as the length of time they should expect to wait before treatment.

Quicker treatment Technological developments have given Aarhus University Hospital the opportunity of developing gentler and more precise types of examination and treatment. These contribute to shortening hospital stays, in some cases even making admission unnecessary. Some patients are admitted, operated on and discharged within the course of a single day. To handle this procedure, the hospitals have opened daytime surgery centres and wards, where the patients themselves can schedule the time of their operation. An important training site Aarhus University Hospital assists in the training and further education of the doctors that work in hospitals or private practices throughout Denmark. Furthermore, a number of other professions connected to the hospital services also use the five hospitals for training.

However, the knowledge and the qualifications of the hospital employees must also be maintained, developed and applied in the best way possible. The university hospitals of the County of Aarhus therefore devote considerable resources to further educating their staff and improving work procedures and working methods whenever new knowledge makes this possible. Dedicated researchers At Aarhus University Hospital, research is undertaken within all medico-scientific areas, and the results of this research are applied for the benefit of the patients. This requires that the specialists at the hospital -– doctors, nursing staff, laboratory employees, therapists and other health staff – assist in developing and applying the latest methods within examination, treatment and care.

Research takes place in each department, but also in dedicated research laboratories that are most often located in connection with the respective departments. If necessitated by the technology or laboratory conditions, research takes place in centralised research laboratories. On average, clinical researchers at Aarhus University Hospital have two medico-science articles published every day. Statistics for Aarhus University Hospital In total, the five hospitals can muster 1,700 beds and have a gross budget of DKK 3.4 billion. In 2000, 145,000 patients were admitted to Aarhus University Hospital, and 381,000 outpatients were treated. The hospital employs about 8,500 people. www.auh.dk