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When new members join teams, particular care should be taken to introduce them to the teams and to ensure that their care is harmonised with that of other team members and teams.²⁵

Anaesthetists with a job plan that includes emergency anaesthesia should demonstrate ongoing continuing education in emergency anaesthesia, and continuing professional development as required for this aspect of their work. Departments have a responsibility to enable this with local teaching where appropriate and by facilitating access to other education and training.³³ Hospitals should provide a comprehensive training programme and support...

There should be a policy in place for pregnancy testing in the under 16s. This should adhere to Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health guidance.²⁵

Anaesthetists should be given support and time to familiarise themselves with non theatre locations and local working arrangements, e.g. during induction sessions.^25,156

Regular daytime emergency lists should be used as a teaching resource and staffed appropriately to facilitate this.

All efforts should be made to ensure trainees receive adequate experience in emergency anaesthesia, and completion of workplace based assessments should be supported.¹¹

Departments of anaesthesia must ensure that a named supervisory consultant is available to all non-consultant anaesthetists, except those non-consultant non-trainee anaesthetists that local governance arrangements have agreed in advance are able to work in those circumstances without consultant supervision, based on the training and experience of the individual doctor and the range and scope of their clinical practice.¹⁵⁸ Where...

Departments should consider developing diagnostic ultrasound skills as appropriate to emergency anaesthesia. There has been a rise in interest in point of care ultrasound and its extension into emergency anaesthesia and critical care. Diverse applications include haemodynamic assessment and monitoring with echocardiography, assessment of lung and pleura (e.g. pneumothorax or pulmonary oedema), vascular access and evaluating gastric residual volumes prior...

The provision of a high quality emergency service should be an explicit aim of the hospital executive and senior staff team. This should be reflected in hospital published plans and by the provision of a management structure to support this aim.³³ The required standards set out in this document apply to all organisations, but the methods used to achieve...

Organisations should explicitly recognise the 24/7 nature of emergency work, and this requires a specific organisational approach for standards to be achieved throughout the whole of the week.