|
News & Events |
Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine |
||||||||||||||
Introduction to the Department of AnaestheticsThe Department of
Anaesthetics is the biggest department in the Royal Infirmary. It consists of
46 Consultants, 3 Associate Specialists, 2 Staff Grades, 25 Registrars, 10
SHOs and 1 or 2 PRHOs. The Department is responsible for the
administration of nearly 27,000 general anaesthetics each year in the Royal
Infirmary. Anaesthetists from the Department also staff the
eighteen-bedded Intensive Care Unit as well as providing considerable input
into the High Dependency Unit. The
Department provides a hospital-wide 24-hour Acute Pain Service led by five
Clinical Nurse Specialists in Pain Management. In addition three
consultants run the Chronic Pain clinic at the Royal Infirmary. Anaesthetists are key members of the Resuscitation Team and the Resuscitation Training Officers for the hospital are based in the Department. Another important role for members of the Department is the transfer of critically ill patients within and between hospitals. As well as clinical activities the University Department of Anaesthetics is actively involved in a wide spectrum of research, including respiratory studies in anaesthesia, studies of postoperative analgesia, jugular bulb oximetry in cardiac surgery, and clinical studies of new anaesthetic agents. Clinical Duties of PRHOs in AnaesthesiaIn the year 2005/2006,
there will be 4 PRHOs in Anaesthetics, each will be attached to the Department
for 4 months. Approximately
half the PRHOs’ time is spent attached to the daytime on-call team, based
around the High Dependency Unit (HDU) and the Emergency Theatre. The on
call team consists of a consultant, a registrar and an SHO. PRHOs take part in the daily Acute Pain ward-round on the HDU. They are actively involved in the management of acute postoperative pain here and in other wards in the hospital including the routine care of postoperative epidurals and the supervision of Patient Controlled Analgesia. In addition, they are involved in the care of patients undergoing surgery in the emergency theatre including preoperative assessment and optimisation, intra-operative anaesthetic management and post-operative care with particular emphasis on pain control and fluid management. They also play a part in the management of other emergency cases in the hospital, including transfer of critically ill patients. PRHOs are also attached to routine operative lists in the Royal Infirmary. Here they gain experience in the anaesthetic management of patients undergoing elective surgical procedures. This includes general anaesthesia, local and regional anaesthesia (including spinal and epidural anaesthesia), airway management, physiological monitoring, fluid balance and analgesia On-call ArrangementsAnaesthetic PRHOs are
on-call as part of the anaesthetic team. They assist with overnight and
weekend emergency anaesthetic cases and with the postoperative care of
patients on the HDU. The post is compliant with the 'New Deal' on hours
of duty for trainee doctors. Education and TrainingPRHOs in anaesthesia receive in-theatre training from consultant and middle grade staff on a one-to-one basis. Release from clinical duties for continuing professional education is guaranteed. Anaesthetic PRHOs join their surgical or medical colleagues in attending courses in the Royal Infirmary specifically designed for House Officers. They are also able to attend Friday Afternoon meetings in the Department of Anaesthetics.
SupervisionThroughout their
attachment to anaesthesia, PRHOs work under the supervision of experienced
anaesthetic staff and are not expected to administer general anaesthesia
without senior assistance being readily available in theatre. Medicine and SurgeryDuring the medicine part
of the rotation, PRHOs will spend two months attached to During
the surgery part of the attachment, PRHOs are usually attached to the
Combined Assessment Area and Orthopaedic Surgery. The above arrangements are under review and further details of the
medicine and surgery components are available from the relevant
departments. Further Details
Tel 0131 242 3223 email: carl.moores@ed.ac.uk |
|||||||||||||||
|
Last
updated 19.07.04. |
||||||||||||||
