Anaesthetists should be trained in the use of, and be familiar with, all equipment they use regularly. The anaesthetist has a primary responsibility to check such equipment before use.19
MTC and TU anaesthetic departments should consider appointing anaesthetists with an interest in prehospital care. Anaesthetists who provide prehospital care in the field should be qualified to do so.5
Experienced anaesthetists should manage patients living with obesity. Regional anaesthesia in this group of patients can be challenging and should be undertaken/supervised by experienced anaesthetists.57
In busier units, increased levels of consultant or other autonomously practising anaesthetist cover may be necessary and should reflect the level of consultant obstetrician staffing in the unit.29 This may involve extending the working day to include senior presence into the evening session and/or increasing numbers of autonomously practising anaesthetists.
When an awake fibreoptic intubation is required, patients should be informed. As part of a difficult airway follow-up, patients should be informed verbally and in writing about any airway problem the anaesthetist encountered, and should be advised to bring this issue to the attention of anaesthetists during any future preoperative assessment. The patient’s general practitioner should also be informed in...
Specialist anaesthetists should be involved in the discussion of referrals and planning when conducted in the setting of a multidisciplinary team. This involvement should be recognised in job plans. Anaesthesia for complex adult congenital heart procedures should be undertaken by suitably trained adult congenital anaesthetists. Appropriate support from ACHD cardiologists and other cardiologists with suitable expertise in ACHD is necessary.33
Departments of anaesthesia must ensure that a named supervisory consultant is available to all non-consultant anaesthetists, except those non-consultant non-trainee anaesthetists that local governance arrangements have agreed in advance are able to work in those circumstances without consultant supervision, based on the training and experience of the individual doctor and the range and scope of their clinical practice.158 Where...
Anaesthetists should be involved in multidisciplinary governance meetings. Perioperative outcome data should be discussed in these meetings.
