The Anaesthetic Department is located adjacent to main theatres and the Intensive Care Unit on level 5. The Department plays a key role in supporting many of the hospital activities.
Staff aim to provide a caring, high-quality service to patients using appropriate, modern equipment and drugs. A major commitment is providing anaesthesia in the operating theatres throughout the hospital. Our care of patients begins pre-operatively, with the anaesthetist visiting their patients beforehand to meet and discuss their management. Care extends into the post-operative period to make sure patients are stable and comfortable after surgery.
If you have a particular query about your anaesthetic the Royal College of Anaesthetists offer plenty of information if you have any queries about the services we provide, contact us by telephone on 01935 384246.
Intensive Care
Patients who are too sick to be looked after in the general wards are cared for in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) or Intensive Care Unit (ITU) where there is a higher level of nursing care and more sophisticated treatment and monitoring is available. This has state-of-the-art equipment. The ITU is staffed by doctors from the anaesthetic department.
Support for the maternity unit
An anaesthetic service is vital to the maternity unit. Anaesthetists provide an on-demand epidural service to give pain relief for women in labour. Anaesthesia is also required for caesarean sections (emergency and planned).
Emergency Care
As a department we provide a 24–hour service for emergency surgery, trauma care, and maternity care. We also provide dedicated medical cover to the Critical Care Areas. Our resident staff play a key role in the Trauma Team as well as the Cardiac Arrest Team.
Pre-Assessment Clinics
These are designed to evaluate and minimize risks to patients requiring surgery. Most pre-assessment is carried out by trained nursing staff, with consultant anaesthetists seeing higher risk patients. This enables patients who have complex problems to be seen by experienced anaesthetists and appropriately investigated and optimised. This facilitates smooth running of theatre lists and reduces cancellations of operations on the day.
