Anaesthesia
This is the largest single Clinical Directorate in the Trust, with involvement in the care of more than 60% of patients - not only for anaesthesia, but for peri-operative care, pre-op assessment, intensive care, acute and chronic pain management and resuscitation.
There are currently 43 Consultant Anaesthetists and 25 trainees within the Anaesthetic Department.
A Consultant Anaesthetist is a fully qualified doctor who subsequently spends several years further training to become an anaesthetist.
The trainees in the department belong to the North West School of Anaesthesia. They are allocated to Salford Royal Foundation Trust to study specific aspects of the specialty. They spend between 3 and 12 months with us depending on their training requirements. Some of the trainees are very junior, others are about to complete their specialist training.
Many Consultants develop special interests for example intensive care, trauma, orthopaedics and neuroanaesthesia to name a few.
Theatres
The Theatres are located in 3 distinct areas within the Trust. The largest complex is in Level 3 comprising 9 theatres. There are currently 4 theatres in Level 1 (with 3 more under construction) and within the Maternity suite there is one further dedicated theatre. Each theatre tends to service specific surgical speciaties with dedicated theatre staff trained in these areas.
Within each theatre complex there is a post anaesthesia care unit (PACU). Staff working in this area look after patients recovering from their operations and help with the various post operation pain relief options.
Useful website links
Royal College of Anaesthetists www.rcoa.ac.uk
Information about anaesthetics www.youranaesthetic.info
Association for perioperative practice www.natn.org.uk/
