Information from the patient’s preoperative assessment should be readily available, ideally as part of an electronic patient record so that information is easy to transfer between locations and to enable data collection for later analysis.
Facilities to allow access to online information, such as electronic patient records, local guidelines and clinical decision aids, should be provided in the theatre suite.
Equipment must be properly maintained and replaced in a timely and planned fashion.123
All staff should be provided with opportunities to familiarise themselves with all equipment by way of documented formal training sessions.
Departments should have processes in place to recognise and manage substance use disorder in an anaesthetist, providing support to the doctor involved.58
The Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthetic Services (GPAS) supports the development and delivery of high quality anaesthetic services. The ACSA scheme supports departments of anaesthesia to implement the recommendations contained within GPAS. This is achieved through a set of standards, derived from GPAS, against which a department is able to benchmark itself through self-assessment and peer review.
GPAS...
