Paediatric Anaesthesia

Anaesthesia services are provided for a wide range of both surgical and medical paediatric specialties in all the Oxford hospitals. Elective surgical specialties include general and urological surgery, orthopaedics, craniofacial, plastics, neurosurgery, ENT, dental and ophthalmology whilst the medical specialities include oncology, radiology (including MRI), radiotherapy, gastroenterology and cardiology.

There is a consultant led anaesthetic service for neonatal emergencies (currently around 200 cases per year). These include exomphalos, gastroschisis, diaphragmatic hernia, volvulus, intusussception, atresia, hernia and pyloric stenosis. An out of hours emergency service is also provided for children under 3 years of age and support for the older child where necessary. There are currently 11 Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetists, 3 of whom have a primary commitment to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Within the group there are ongoing audit and research projects. There is a commitment to training within the department for trainees undertaking the 3 month paediatric module.

There is a six month Advanced Training Module in Paediatric Anaesthesia for senior trainees. This is appointed on a competitive basis. It is generally divided into three 2 month blocks but can be tailored to cater for individual interests/needs.

The module is subdivided as follows:

• Two months based mainly in the Paediatric General Surgery & Urology theatres
• Two months at the West Wing doing Craniofacial, Neurosurgical, Plastics & ENT
• Two months Orthopaedics (at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre), Cardiac Catheters & Imaging/outside areas.

There is currently no Paediatric Intensive Care block during this Advanced Training Module but it may be possible to arrange a six week attachment at a separate time.

We encourage trainees to become involved in current audit/research projects & time can be set aside for this. For further information please contact Dr Sumit Das.

There is an annual training day consisting of lectures and workshops aiming to provide an introduction to paediatric anaesthesia for trainees in their first or second year of training.

There is an Oxford Region Paediatric Anaesthetic group which is an informal collection of anaesthetists who look after children at the different hospitals in the region. There are meetings which aim to discuss common issues relating to teaching, management and clinical topics.