The close interlocking of the various departments was an absolute necessity, last but not least due to the very short supply of beds and the spatial restrictions posed by the buildings, where every inch of space had to be utilized. In addition, multidisciplinary co-operation between physicians in the various departments, for example in the intensive care ward, in the transplantation sector and in numerous development projects, was essential. For this reason, integrated organizational forms were institutionalized, first of all in the surgical sector, where the working hours and deployment of the various groups of medical staff, i. e. surgeons, anaesthetists, operating theatre nurses, aesthesis nurses and perfusionists were planned as one process by the overall co-ordinator, Ulrike Richert, who at the same time is the institute’s director of patient care.

Efficient and smooth teamwork in the operating theatres is owed at all times first and foremost to Director of Anaesthetics, Prof. Hermann Kuppe, whose co-operative approach and personal commitment lack the confrontational attitude so often encountered in other operating sectors. Subsequently, integrated staff planning across professional borders was successfully extended to the intensive care wards.

continuation