Patient information

Information for patients and carers

Welcome to our patient information area.

Here you can find information for you and your carers about anaesthesia.

PIF Tick Logo - patient information

The patient information produced by the College is certified by the PIF Trusted Information Creator Kitemark accreditation scheme run by Patient Information Forum (PIF) for measuring the quality of health information.

More information here

Vacancy for Patient Information Lead
We are recruiting for a Patient Information Lead to oversee the review and production of our award winning resources.

The College has produced a large number of resources for you to view about all aspects of anaesthesia. We also include links to resources by other organisations specialising in different areas.

In this section you will find information on:

Our resources are written by clinicians and reviewed by the College's Patient Information Group, which includes patient representatives and experts in different areas of anaesthesia.

Please use the links below to see the full range of our resources

Patient with mask

About anaesthesia and perioperative care
The word anaesthesia means ‘loss of sensation’. It can involve a simple local anaesthetic injection or using powerful drugs which cause unconsciousness.
Patient leaflet with doctor and patient

Patient information resources
Read all our detailed anaesthesia information leaflets and resources specifically for patients and their carers which have been written by the Royal College of Anaesthetists.
Hello pattern - hero

Patient information translations
Translations of our patient information leaflets, produced in partnership with the international translation charity Translators without Borders.
Feedback from patients and carers

Feedback on our patient resources
Did you find what you were looking for? Let us know what you think of our resources and what else we could provide to help. Please take a few minutes to complete our questionnaire.
Anaesthetist in theatre desktop

Information for healthcare professionals
Details about using our patient information and resources in your own hospital leaflets and professional printing information.
Preparing for surgery: Fitter Better Sooner

Preparing for surgery – Fitter Better Sooner
Having surgery? Our Fitter Better Sooner toolkit will help you prepare for surgery and share all the important steps you can take to improve your health and speed up your recovery.
BMA Highly Commended logo

Fitter Better Sooner was Highly Commended and shortlisted in the Self-care category at the BMA Patient Information Awards 2019