Critical care pathway development: the way forward.

In many NHS trusts throughout the UK, critical pathways are being used as a method of managing patient care, enabling trusts to ensure that patients receive appropriate, high quality, cost-effective care. At the same time they can meet some of the requirements of The Patient's Charter, such as involving patients in decision making and keeping them informed during periods of treatment. This article first describes critical pathways and then discusses briefly the reasons why pathways were developed at the Guy's and St Thomas' Trust, and the stages of development before their introduction.