Acute & Same-Day Care [PHC-04-EN]

Acute & Same-Day Care [PHC-04-EN]

Delayed recognition of clinical deterioration and unstructured same-day access pathways remain among the most consequential sources of preventable harm in primary care settings. In the South Caucasus, where primary healthcare facilities function as the principal first point of contact for a substantial proportion of acute presentations, the gap between patient acuity at arrival and the clinical response capacity of front-line teams carries direct implications for morbidity and mortality. The WHO’s 2023 global report on primary care quality identified inadequate triage standardisation and underdeveloped rapid-response protocols as recurring deficiencies across low- and middle-income health systems, including those in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Closing this gap requires systematic, role-differentiated competency — not improvised judgement under pressure.

This course is grounded in validated triage frameworks, including the Manchester Triage System and the WHO Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment (ETAT) guidelines, adapted for the ambulatory primary care environment. Content is structured around case-based learning, simulation scenarios drawn from real-pattern acute presentations, and workflow analysis aligned with Joint Commission International (JCI) standards for patient flow and early warning systems. Participants engage with evidence from peer-reviewed literature on same-day access modelling, including the NHS Advanced Access framework, which has demonstrated measurable reductions in avoidable emergency department referrals when systematically implemented in primary care. Assessment is criterion-referenced, ensuring that demonstrated competency — not exposure alone — drives certification.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish between emergent, urgent, and non-urgent presentations using a validated triage framework applicable to primary care and polyclinic settings.
• Implement a structured early warning protocol for the deteriorating ambulatory patient, incorporating physiological trigger thresholds consistent with WHO ETAT and National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) criteria.
• Design a same-day access scheduling model that balances demand-supply metrics, reduces avoidable delay, and meets the patient flow documentation requirements of ASF PHC accreditation standards.
• Apply standardised red-flag screening checklists across high-risk acute presentations — including chest pain, acute dyspnoea, altered mental status, and sepsis indicators — to clinical intake workflows.
• Evaluate the quality and completeness of acute care documentation against JCI and Georgian national PHC accreditation criteria, identifying gaps that create medico-legal and continuity-of-care risk.
• Construct a facility-level emergency preparedness checklist, specifying role assignments, equipment readiness standards, and escalation pathways appropriate to the resources of a Georgian primary care facility.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for general practitioners, family medicine physicians, nurses, and paramedical staff working in primary healthcare centres, polyclinics, and rural ambulatory facilities across Georgia and the broader South Caucasus region. It is particularly relevant to clinic administrators and quality leads responsible for ASF PHC accreditation compliance, as well as to mid-career clinicians seeking to formalise acute care competencies that have typically been acquired informally on the job. Healthcare professionals preparing for facility re-accreditation cycles or internal quality audits will find the structured frameworks and documentation tools immediately applicable.

Course Structure

The course is delivered fully online through the GMJ Academy platform, comprising approximately six to eight hours of self-paced study across four structured modules, each concluding with scenario-based formative assessments and a final criterion-referenced examination requiring a minimum passing score of 75%. Successful participants receive a GMJ Academy certificate of completion carrying CME/CPD credit recognised within the Georgian continuous medical education framework.