Hospital Departments: Clinical and Support Services
Hospitals are organized into clinical departments that provide direct patient care and support departments that enable clinical operations, with both categories essential for comprehensive healthcare delivery.
Clinical Departments
Clinical departments provide direct patient care and include both general and specialized services:
Core Clinical Services
- Intensive Care Units (ICU) with specialized critical care physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists 1
- Internal Medicine departments managing comprehensive adult medical care and multisystemic diseases 2, 3
- Emergency departments serving as the main entrance for acute illness and injuries, organized as central interdisciplinary units 4, 5
- Surgical departments with surgical teams and scrub technicians 1
- Obstetrics and gynecology (though often excluded from internal medicine scope) 3
Specialized Clinical Units
- Disease-specific teams including obesity teams, diabetes management, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer care, and palliative care services 1
- Clinical nutrition support units with specialized physicians, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists managing complex nutritional problems 1
- Radiology departments with imaging technicians 1
- Clinical infectious disease and microbiology laboratory services 1
Multidisciplinary Support Teams
- Nutrition Support Teams (NST) comprising physicians, dietitians, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and speech therapists to manage enteral and parenteral nutrition 1
- Nutrition Steering Committees with interdisciplinary composition including directors, managers, health professionals, and catering staff 1
Support Departments
Support departments provide essential infrastructure and ancillary services without direct clinical care:
Patient Support Services
- Social services providing psychosocial support 1
- Transport services for patient movement 1
- Dietary and nutrition services (hospital catering) providing 24-hour food access with appropriate energy densities and special diets 1
- Clergy and spiritual care 1
Therapeutic Support
Administrative and Infrastructure
- Hospital administration including medical and managing directors 1
- Infection control and healthcare epidemiologists 1
- Housekeeping and environmental services 1
- Plant management and physical support maintaining infrastructure 1
- Clerical staff for documentation and administrative functions 1
Coordination and Oversight
- Hospital Emergency Executive Control Group serving as the coordinating hub with incident managers 1
- Clinical nutrition care units organized as independent administrative units or integrated into multidisciplinary teams 1
Key Organizational Principles
The distinction between clinical and support staff is critical: only clinical staff should provide direct patient care, while support departments maintain infrastructure and enable clinical operations 1. Emergency departments should function as central interdisciplinary units to improve quality and efficiency, preventing unnecessary patient transport 5. Multidisciplinary teams work across hospital departments rather than being confined to single units 1.