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A local policy should be established with the haematology department to ensure blood and blood products once available are able to be transferred to the delivery suite rapidly for the management of major haemorrhage.^57,58

O negative blood should be immediately available, and ideally stored on the delivery suite.

There should be rapid availability of radiology services. 

In tertiary referral centres, there should be 24-hour access to interventional radiology services.⁵⁵

Echocardiography should be available at all times in units that routinely deal with cardiac patients.⁶

Robust and reliable local arrangements should be in place to ensure the supply and maintenance of all medicines required in obstetric anaesthesia. There must be a system for ordering, storage, recording and auditing of controlled drugs, in accordance with legislation.^59,60,61

There should be access to a clinical pharmacist of an appropriate competency level and with appropriate experience in obstetrics, to advise on day-to-day medication or prescribing issues in the obstetric population, and to provide input in local policies and procedures pertaining to any aspects of medicines management.⁶²

High-risk surgical patients should have their expected risk of death estimated and documented prior to intervention, with due adjustments made in planning the urgency of care, seniority of staff involved and postoperative care.^{62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69}

Sterile prefilled syringes or bags of low dose local anaesthetic combined with opioid solutions for regional analgesia should be available.

Prefilled syringes of commonly used emergency drugs, e.g. suxamethonium and phenylephrine, should be used where available.⁶³