Anaesthesiology

Welcome to the Discipline of Anaesthesiology

As Professor and Chair of Anaesthesia, I would like to welcome you to our website. Anaesthesiology is a clinical discipline that aims to provide patient focused care in the areas of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, of the highest quality and to the highest safety standards.

Anaesthesiology is a medical specialty focused on the comprehensive care of patients before, during, and after surgery or other procedures that require anaesthesia. The discipline encompasses all stages of the patients’ perioperative journey, from pre-operative assessment and optimization of patients to administration of anaesthesia (general, regional, or local) for a wide range of surgical and diagnostic procedures, intra-operative management of vital functions, including airway, breathing, circulation, and pain control, and post-operative care, including pain management and monitoring for complications

Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) is a distinct but closely related specialty that deals with the management of critically ill patients who require advanced organ support and monitoring. Key aspects include assessment and treatment of life-threatening conditions such as respiratory failure, shock, sepsis, and multi-organ dysfunction; use of advanced technologies for monitoring and supporting vital organ systems (e.g., mechanical ventilation, renal replacement therapy); interdisciplinary collaboration with surgeons, anaesthesiologists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals; and ethical and professional decision-making in complex, high-stakes situations

Pain Medicine is a multidisciplinary specialty dedicated to the prevention, assessment, and management of acute and chronic pain, including both cancer-related and non-cancer pain.

Our discipline is committed to both learning and research as vitally important. Our Anaesthesia teaching and learning programmes have a particular emphasis on the following groups: Medical students in the Second, Third and Final year of the degree programme; Interns and senior house staff; Postgraduate student ins MSc courses in cell therapy and Regenerative Medicine; Postgraduate medical trainees in Anaesthesia; postgraduate Higher Diploma Nursing students in Intensive Care, Peri-operative Care and Emergency Care.

Our Research programmes span from basic laboratory to translational research in Regenerative Medicine, with a focus on gene and cell-based therapies for ARDS and Sepsis. We have an active Critical Care Cluster focused on conducting trials and other studies in the critically ill. Other active clinical research programmes include investigation of the utility of medical devices relevant to drug delivery to the lung, airway management devices, and devices in regional anaesthesia and the management of acute postoperative pain. We offer research Master’s and PhD programmes, and welcome enquiries from prospective students.

John Laffey, MD, MA, DSc, MRIA

Established Professor, Discipline of Anaesthesia