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Departments should have a clear and readily available plan accessible to all members of the anaesthetic team to manage adverse events both for a patient and beyond for a colleague/s or the department.  This might include exploring the possibilities of interdepartmental peer support groups, and strategies to reduce the emotional burden on staff after adverse events.^89,90,92,93

The department should provide training and education in dealing with adverse events including: what to do after an adverse incident, potential problems, appropriate communication skills, the law surrounding adverse incidents and where to find expert support. ^43,91,92,95

Following an adverse event, those involved should be supported appropriately. Expert support services should be signposted and made easy to access, and there should be a regular ‘check in’ from a trusted senior colleague known to and accepted by the anaesthetist or staff affected.^94,95,96

Arrangements to handover duties easily and swiftly should be made promptly and sympathetically to enable the anaesthetist or staff member to have time away from the workplace following a major adverse event. Additional support should be provided on return to work and also when the anaesthetist is presented with similar clinical scenarios.⁹⁷

Departmental procedures should be in place to facilitate a voluntary debrief, using a structured, and validated approach.

The emotional health of caregivers should be taken into consideration in incident investigation with advice and support available for dealing with hospital investigations, coroners’ inquests and possible legal proceedings.  Resulting action and further psychological support should be available to individuals to enable recovery.⁹⁸

If a member of staff is excluded from work, the department should ensure that the staff member continues to receive all appropriate emotional support including contact from colleagues and members of the department if requested.

The anaesthetic department should encourage and focus on learning through positives including what goes well. One key area for doing this on a daily basis is through the end of list debrief. There should be allocated time for the debrief to take place and this should be attended by all members of the theatre team.⁹⁹

Anaesthetic departments should consider a system for documenting and sharing success with colleagues or the department as a whole.

There should be mechanisms to disseminate and use national safety alerts from groups such as the Safe Anaesthesia Liaison Group.