Options for anaesthesia and all aspects of perioperative care, including risks and benefits, should be discussed with the patient by the responsible anaesthetist.35
The IPS should consider facilitating anaesthetists in training to participate in inpatient pain audits and research as part of their training.57
Anaesthetists should actively engage in planning services with significant regional anaesthesia requirements. They should be actively involved in policy decisions, service improvements and equipment purchasing related to regional anaesthesia.
If a patient is transferred to the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) with a tracheal tube in place, the anaesthetist remains responsible for the removal of the tube but may delegate its removal. Delegation should be to an appropriately trained member of the PACU staff who is prepared to accept this delegated responsibility.4
The written and verbal information given to patients before their admission to hospital should explain the purpose and nature of their recovery and the recovery department. You and your anaesthetic, published by the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Association of Anaesthetists is an example of this.51 Further details on information to be given preoperatively can be found in...
A patient’s consent to participate in research projects should be obtained by those conducting the study and not by the anaesthetist providing care for the operation. Consent should be obtained on a separate signed document and approval should be sought from the anaesthetist who will be delivering the anaesthetic to the patient.79,81
When an awake fibre-optic intubation is required, patients should be informed. As part of a difficult airway follow up, patients should be informed verbally and in writing about any airway problem the anaesthetist encountered, and be advised to bring this to the attention of anaesthetists during any future preoperative assessment. The patient’s GP should also be informed in writing.70
Anaesthetists with a substantial commitment to paediatric anaesthesia should have satisfied the higher and advanced level competency based training requirements in paediatric anaesthesia of the RCoA48 or equivalent. It is recognised that anaesthetists involved in highly specialised areas such as paediatric cardiac and neurosurgery will require additional training that is individually tailored to their needs.
