Additional consultant programmed activities should be allocated for:
In units where trainee anaesthetists work a full or partial shift system, and/or rotate through the department every three months (or more frequently), provision of additional consultant programmed activities should be considered, to allow training and supervision into the evening.29
There should be a named consultant anaesthetist responsible for every elective caesarean delivery operating list. This consultant should be immediately available. The named consultant should have no other clinical responsibilities.
Consultant support should be available at all times with a response time of not more than half an hour to attend the delivery suite, and maternity operating theatre. The supervising consultant should not therefore be responsible for two or more geographically separate obstetric units.
Staff working in the maternity unit should be aware of their supervisor’s identity, location and how to contact them.30 The name(s) of the consultant(s) covering the delivery suite should be clearly displayed and easily visible to all staff, and contact numbers readily available.
The anaesthetist caring for the woman should not be responsible for neonatal resuscitation and the care of the newborn baby.21
There should be a process in place to identify patients with specific problems such as dementia (with risk of postoperative delirium) and poor nutritional status (with increased risk of morbidity).
Women requiring anaesthesia in the peripartum period should have at least the same standards of perioperative care as for any surgical patient.31
The anaesthetist should have a competent trained assistant immediately available for the duration of any anaesthetic intervention and this practitioner should not have any other duties.31
