The economics of Burn care By: Paul Trueman Hospital Episode
Statistics for England and Wales demonstrate the scale of burn
injuries and associated costs, with the paediatric and elderly
population being the most at risk. In the year 2009/2010 there
were: - Over 11,000 admissions - Accounting for over 47,000 bed
days - Involving over 3400 critical care admissions Health and
economic impacts of burn care can be divided into direct
(healthcare) costs, indirect (non-healthcare) costs and
intangible costs (Table 1; Figure 1). Table 1. Costs associated
with burn care. Reconstruction: specialist care, surgery (ICU,
burns unit) Rehabilitation: Multi-disciplinary inpatient or
outpatient care Reintegration: outpatient and community care
Patient and carer costs Pain, suffering, quality of life Figure
1. Distribution of costs in burn care (From Sanchez et al,
2008). Approaches to burn care Clinical and economic evidence is
required to identify the most efficient approaches to burn care
and in this respect economic stake