Background: The absence of published data for benchmarking serves as a disincentive for Acute Medical Units to improve care.
Aim: To test feasibility of a national audit in Acute Medicine for compliance with common standards.
Methods: On line questionnaire with summary data for patients admitted to participating Acute Medicine Units over a 24-hour-period.
Results: 30 units submitted summary data. The mean number of admission was 36 (SD 14). Compliance with standards around timing of junior and senior review was highly variable. In almost all other standards only a small number of units achieved high reliability with compliance of more than 90%.
Conclusion: SAMBA provides a data set that can be used for local and national benchmarking and quality improvement work. Annual audit might be beneficial to track improvements.