The anaesthetist should ensure that an adequate supply of oxygen is available before starting any procedure. Many of the sites where anaesthesia is provided outside the main operating theatres do not have piped oxygen; if anaesthesia is provided frequently in such a location, the use of the location should be reviewed, or piped oxygen provided. The organisational culture should enable...
Hospitals should have well-integrated arrangements that ensure anaesthetists covering long neurosurgical procedures or overrunning lists have regular breaks covered by an appropriate colleague for refreshment and comfort breaks.6,7,8,9 If a case is expected to run over three sessions, consideration should be given to organising a second anaesthetist.
Anaesthesia for all patients undergoing major vascular surgery should be provided by or directly supervised by an anaesthetist suitably qualified, trained and experienced in vascular anaesthesia. This will usually be a consultant vascular anaesthetist, who has overall responsibility for the patient’s care. Under certain circumstances, this could be an SAS doctor who is practising regularly in this subspecialist area under...
A clinical lead for burn and plastic surgery anaesthesia should be appointed in each hospital providing anaesthesia for this specialty. The clinical lead (see Glossary) anaesthetist in burn and plastic surgery units will be responsible for the provision of service, teaching, production of guidelines, management, research and audit, and should be able to support quality improvement initiatives. Sufficient time...
