Consultant or autonomously practising anaesthetists intending to follow a career in paediatric cardiothoracic anaesthesia should have higher training in general paediatric anaesthesia of at least one year followed by a specialist training period of an appropriate duration in the subspecialty.
All patients undergoing anaesthesia should be under the overall care of a consultant or other autonomously practising anaesthetist whose name is recorded as part of the anaesthetic record. 276
All anaesthetic equipment should be checked before use in accordance with the Association of Anaesthetists published guidelines. Anaesthetic machine checks should be recorded in a log and on the anaesthetic chart.16
Staff assigned to the role of anaesthetic assistant should not have any other duties that would prevent them from providing dedicated assistance to the anaesthetist during anaesthesia.41
All patients should have a named and documented supervisory consultant anaesthetist who has overall responsibility for the care of the patient.44,45 A suitably trained and experienced staff grade, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctor could be the named anaesthetist on the anaesthetic record if local governance arrangements have agreed in advance that the individual doctor can take...
