Anaesthesia
Annually we anaesthetise 20,000 patients for operative procedures. We treat 500 patients in the critical care unit and provide anaesthetic services to 1,900 women during childbirth.
We provide anaesthetic services across West Dorset at Bridport Hospital, Weymouth Community Hospital, Blandford Hospital and Swanage Hospital. Consultants also provide anaesthetic care at the private Winterbourne Hospital.
The Anaesthesia Department strives to:
- Deliver outstanding care to adult and paediatric patients in the peri–operative period.
- Provide an excellent education for our specialist registrars, senior house officers and medical students, as well as continuing education and professional development for our consultant and career grade staff
We are committed to ensuring that all patients peri–operative and pain medicine care are treated in a compassionate fashion using state of the art medicine with a focus on patient safety. We embrace the diversity of our community through a philosophy of trust, respect and understanding.
If you have a particular query about your anaesthetic the Royal College of Anaesthetists offer plenty of information available below.
Our anaesthetics team
All our anaesthetists have medical degrees and are registered with the General Medical Council. All consultants are Fellows of the Royal College of Anaesthetists or equivalent and have undergone eight years of accredited postgraduate training in anaesthesia. All consultants are on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register.
Our team consists of the anaesthetic doctors assisted by highly skilled operating department personnel and specialist nursing staff. Nursing staff also play a key role in the Pre-Operative Assessment Clinic, in the anaesthetic room, in recovery and in the critical care areas.
All staff participate in a programme of in–house education as well as attending national and international meetings. We practise audit and clinical governance within are department to ensure that we are delivering the highest quality of care.
We actively participate in the education of our patients, families and members of our community about healthcare concerns related to anaesthesia, pain management and critical care medicine.
Theatre equipment and anaesthetic care
Our ability to provide the highest quality of care is facilitated by having access to the best anaesthetic machines and equipment as well as a complete assortment of pharmacological tools. We use both general and regional anaesthetic techniques either alone or in combination to reduce patients stress response to surgery. Regional anaesthesia is provided by single shot or catheter techniques and is provided by our dedicated group of Anaesthetists using the latest in block placement techniques including ultrasound imaging.
Post-operative care is under the guidance of the anaesthetic staff.
Emergency care
As a department we are committed to providing a 24hour service for emergency surgery, trauma care, obstetric analgesia service (epidurals for child birth), and anaesthesia service for maternity providing anaesthesia and pain relief for caesarean section and instrumental delivery.
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-operative assessment
Our department includes a ground breaking pre-operative assessment unit. Our involvement in preoperative assessment is designed to evaluate and minimize the risks to the patient of undergoing their procedure.
A number of patient information videos are available here.