Staff help create UK’s only ‘recipe book’ of anaesthetic improvement methods
Our anaesthetic team have made significant contributions to the Royal College of Anaesthetists’ Quality Improvement Compendium, which was published this week.
The text book includes a set of 136 ‘recipes’ giving audit standards and quality improvement guidance across the whole of anaesthetic practice. This includes managing blood pressure in the intensive care unit, providing better information leaflets for patients, dealing with staff fatigue, chronic pain opioid management, and reducing cancellations for surgery.
St George’s staff played a large part in the compendium’s creation. This includes Dr Carolyn Johnston, Consultant Anaesthetist, and Dr Maria Chereshneva, a RCA fellow hosted by the Trust last year, both of whom were editors. Eight of our trainees and twelve of our consultants wrote ‘recipes’ – which is content based around a specific topic area.
Two of the chapters were also edited by St George’s consultants – Carolyn edited the obstetric chapter, and Judith Dinsmore edited the chapter on Neuroanaesthesia.
Carolyn said: “I am hugely proud of my colleagues and the contribution St George’s as a whole has made to this fantastic piece of work.
“This book is a great reminder that clinical departments can always do better for patients – and that there are always new ways of doing things. The fact that so many ideas in this book originated from patients themselves is particularly great to see. I hope it will be used to improve care for patients in the UK and abroad for many years to come.”
The compendium has taken more than two years to write and edit, and a copy is sent to every anaesthetic department in the UK. It can be accessed here.
