Anaesthetics
Contact
- Charing Cross Hospital
- 020 3311 7017
- Hammersmith Hospital
- 020 3313 3143
- St Mary’s Hospital
- 020 3312 1248
Visitor Information
Translation help:
To translate this page into your preferred language, click the Google Translate icon in the top-right menu and select your desired language.
Anaesthesia is a type of drug treatment used to prevent patients feeling pain when they have a medical procedure such as an operation.
We deliver the highest standard of patient care using evidence-based methods of anaesthesia together with the latest equipment.
Our anaesthesia services are provided by a team of highly trained and experienced specialists, known as anaesthetists, who are all trained to nationally agreed standards.
Anaesthetists work in all our hospitals and are a key part of the team when surgery is being performed. They safely administer the right level of anaesthetic and monitor patients while they are anaesthetised to ensure they remain safe.
In addition to providing care during operations, our anaesthetists are also involved in managing pain relief during childbirth, pain clinics, intensive care, high dependency and resuscitation services, as well as hospital administration, teaching and training, research and audit.
Specialist services
We also provide specialist services for certain types of operation, for example:
- cardiac anaesthesia
- neuro-anaesthesia
- paediatric anaesthesia
- paediatric intensive care
- acute and chronic pain management
- obstetric anaesthesia
- intensive care
When is anaesthetic used?
A local anaesthetic is normally used for minor surgery to ensure you feel no pain during the operation. It is normally given by injection or spray to numb the part of the body where surgery will take place.
A regional anaesthetic blocks pain in a large part of the body, such as an entire arm or leg. An epidural, sometimes given to a woman for pain relief during childbirth, is a type of regional anaesthesia.
General anaesthetic blocks pain in the entire body by putting a patient into a state of unconsciousness. Patients are usually given a general anaesthetic when they are having a long operation, or one that would be particularly painful otherwise.
Meet the team
We have over 70 anaesthetic consultants at our Trust. Our senior staff members are:
Senior consultants
Dr Stewart Berry, clinical director for theatres, anaesthetics and pain
Dr Ben Graham, clinical lead for anaesthetics at St Mary’s Hospital
Dr Claire Hopkins, clinical lead for anaesthetics at Charing Cross Hospital
Dr Phillippa Bora, clinical lead for anaesthetics at Hammersmith Hospital
Nursing team
Kim Brown, senior nurse for theatres, anaesthetics and pain
Kristin James, theatre manager for St Mary’s Hospital
Sherrane Clarke, theatre manager for Charing Cross Hospital
Helen Evbuomwan, lead nurse for pre-assesment at Charing Cross and St Mary’s hospitals
Nicola Bourne and Pauline Chinn, lead nurses for pain at Charing Cross Hospital
Danny Owens, theatre manager for Hammersmith Hospital
Patient information
Before your operation
If you have any questions or concerns, someone from our team will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for you to speak with.
You can contact an anaesthetist before surgery, or discuss any concerns before or after surgery.
You can also contact the departments directly; the anaesthetic administrators will be able to direct your call to the most appropriate doctor. During daytime hours, please contact anaesthetists through the anaesthetic department. This number should be on your appointment letter. Out of normal hours or in an emergency, please contact the on-call registrar through the hospital switchboards (numbers can be found on our locations page).
If your appointment is in the morning, please do not have anything to eat or drink (not even sweets or chewing gum) after 02.00 on the morning of your operation.
If your appointment is in the afternoon, please do not have anything to eat or drink after 07.00 on the morning of your operation. If you regularly take medicines in the morning, please take them by 07.00 on the morning of your operation. You should take them with a small sip of water if necessary.
If you are diabetic, you must not take your insulin or diabetic tablets on the morning of your operation. If you take blood-thinning medications (such as warfarin or aspirin), please contact us for advice before your appointment.
We strongly advise you to arrange for someone to drive you to the hospital or travel by public transport. You must not drive home following your operation.
During your operation
An anaesthetist will care for you during your operation and will:
- talk to you about the different types of anaesthesia and find which options you would prefer to help you make choices
- discuss the risks of anaesthesia with you
- agree a plan with you for your anaesthetic and pain control
- be responsible for giving your anaesthetic and for your wellbeing and safety throughout your surgery
- manage any blood transfusions you may need
- plan your care, if needed, in the intensive care unit or high dependency unit
- make your experience as calm and painless as possible
After your operation
You will wake up in the recovery area with a nurse looking after you. When you are fully awake, we will take you back to the ward. You may find that you have a sore or dry throat and some tenderness at the site of the operation. We will give you painkillers if you need them. We will ask you to stay on the ward for a few hours to make sure that you have recovered sufficiently from the anaesthetic before you go home.
Patient information leaflets
Additional information
Education and academic teaching
Academic teaching is administered via Imperial College London's faculty of medicine, which offers both academic clinical fellowships and clinical lectureships in anaesthesia. This means that StRs have the opportunity to go on to an academic career in anaesthesia should they so wish, after they have gone through their initial training. To find out more about studying anaesthesia at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, please contact training administrator Terri Stewart by email at terri.stewart@nhs.net.