Anaesthetics

The combined Anaesthetic Department of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust has offices at the Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH) in Brighton and at the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Haywards Heath.

We provide anaesthetic services for General Surgery, ENT (including major airway surgery), Gynaecology and Urology, Orthopaedics and Trauma, Paediatric and Neonatal Surgery (at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital), Neurosurgery and Cardiac Surgery.

The Orthopaedic Treatment Centre is at the Princess Royal Site and Ophthalmic Services are based at the Eye Hospital in Brighton. Chronic Pain Services are provided at PRH and Day Surgery both at PRH and at Lewes Victoria Hospital.

We provide anaesthesia to a total of 31 Operating Theatres and support Critical Care facilities at the RSCH, the PRH, the Cardiac Unit and the Paediatric High Dependency Unit. The anaesthetic department consists of over 70 Consultant Anaesthetists, one Associate Specialist, 38 Training posts and a number of clinical fellow and research posts. We have 2 College Tutors in Anaesthetics due to the large numbers of trainees and their diversity in training needs.

The department provides 24 hour a day anaesthesia and analgesia for labour and operative delivery at both RSCH and PRH. There is also a preoperative assessment and high risk antenatal anaesthetic assessment for RSCH’s and PRH’s Obstetric services. Due to the high number of complex patients that

ANAESTHETICS

pass through our hospitals, there is an Anaesthetic Review Clinic set up providing Consultant pre-assessment for high risk patients. This has recently included the use of CPEX testing in some patient groups. We provide anaesthetic training for Novice Anaesthetists who have a specific 3 month programme culminating in their Initial Assessment of Competence, Core Trainees (including ACCS) and Intermediate and Higher Trainees.

We run a modular training programme at all levels and take care to ensure that the individual training needs for each anaesthetic trainee are met. This is achieved by having a well established and motivated group of Educational and Clinical Supervisors who meet every three months at the Local Faculty Group Meeting. There is a timetable of fortnightly teaching sessions to cover the FRCA syllabus and more senior trainees are expected to attend regional study days which take place in Brighton and around KSS. In addition to this there are regular teaching sessions/tutorials specifically to support those taking the FRCA examinations.

There is a ‘neophyte’ course for those new to anaesthetics to complement their in theatre workplace based assessments in order to achieve of Initial Assessment of Competence (IAC). There are opportunities to take advantage of locally run simulation training in neuroanaesthesia, paediatric anaesthesia and obstetrics. The School of Anaesthesia, BSUH and Brighton and Sussex Medical School collaborate on the MSc, PGCert and PGDip for Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, jointly run at the University of Brighton and the PRH and trainees have the opportunity to gain experience in teaching undergraduates, Foundation doctors and other allied health professionals.

Departmental audit and clinical incident meetings are held regularly and trainees are expected to participate in them. All members of the department are encouraged to conduct audit projects and present these at department’s Clinical Governance meetings.

Research

There are research opportunities within the anaesthetic department and we currently have 2 Research Fellows involved in ongoing projects led by a small group of Consultants. This includes projects in hip fracture care, hypothermia management and blood conservation strategies. All trainees are expected to participate in audit/clinical improvement projects and present at local and national meetings where appropriate.