The anaesthetist accompanying transferred patients to the radiology department should be suitably skilled and experienced to manage all eventualities in an isolated environment and should be accompanied by a dedicated trained assistant.7
The ECT clinical lead should streamline the preassessment and consent processes for all ECT patients by setting up a collaborative system with ECT clinics and experienced anaesthetists. The mental capacity issues that affect informed consent should be acknowledged.
General anaesthesia for dentistry should be administered only by anaesthetists in a hospital setting as defined by the Department of Health report reviewing general anaesthesia and conscious sedation in primary dental care.77
Hospitals should consider appointing a lead anaesthetist for diabetes. Organisations should ensure that staff involved with caring for patients with diabetes have access to and complete regular training.183
Adequate recovery room facilities that comply with the Association of Anaesthetists’ recommendations for standards of monitoring during anaesthesia and recovery should be available within the delivery suite theatre complex.43
All anaesthetists involved in the care of pregnant women should be competent to deliver high quality safe care that considers the physiological changes and other specific requirements of these pregnant women.121
Any non trainee anaesthetist who undertakes anaesthetic duties in the labour ward should have been assessed as competent to perform these duties in accordance with RCoA guidelines.20
In an emergency situation involving a child requiring anaesthesia for an airway or head and neck procedure, the most experienced available anaesthetist and surgeon would be expected to provide life-saving care when transfer to a specialist facility is not feasible.
Continuity of care should be a priority in prolonged procedures and when this is not possible, a formal documented process with some overlap should be in place for handover of clinical care from one anaesthetist to another.3
