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Standardisation of the handover process can improve patient care by ensuring information completeness, accuracy and efficiency (the use of checklists should be considered). Staff should comply with the local standardised handover processes.¹⁶

All areas in which ophthalmic anaesthesia is performed should have a reliable supply of the medicines required to deliver safe anaesthesia and sedation. Storage arrangements should be such that there is prompt access to them if clinically required, maintains integrity of the medicines, and ensures compliance with safe and secure storage of medicines regulations.³⁰In addition, anaesthetists and anaesthetic...

Facilities should be available or transfer arrangements should be in place to allow for the overnight stay of patients who cannot be treated as day cases or who require unanticipated admission.

Optimal patient positioning is critical to the safe conduct of ophthalmic surgery and for patient comfort. Adjustable trolleys/operating tables that permit correct positioning should be available.³¹

Some patients, for example those with restricted mobility, may require specific equipment such as hoists to position them. Preoperative planning should ensure that such equipment is available and should allow for the extra time and staff needed to position these patients safely.

Staff should complete urgent tasks before information transfer, limiting conversations while performing tasks (adopting a ‘sterile cockpit’ approach).^47,48

If responsibility for care is transferred from one anaesthetist to another, a ‘handover protocol’ should be followed, during which all relevant information about the patient’s history, medical condition, anaesthetic status, and plan should be communicated.⁶

Patients should be transferred to the ward accompanied by two members of staff, at least one of whom should be suitably trained to locally agreed standards. The anaesthetic record, recovery and prescription charts together with the postoperative plan, should accompany the patient and be clearly communicated to the receiving ward nurse.

Processes for the communication and implementation of patient safety alerts should be in place.

The introduction of clinical pathways that encompass the entire perioperative period from the preoperative evaluation to the post discharge disposition should be considered, with the aim of reducing healthcare cost while improving outcomes.¹⁹