The anaesthetic team at Stepping Hill Hospital have received confirmation of their high standards following a recent award. 

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has been accredited under the prestigious Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) scheme, demonstrating their commitment to patient safety and excellence of care.  

The anaesthetic team performs a vital role for approximately 19,000 surgical and maternity patients at the hospital every year. Anaesthetic stops patients from feeling pain during an operation, procedure, treatment or labour. It can take the form of local or regional anaesthetic (numbing parts of the body while staying awake), or general anaesthetic (where the patient is unconscious.)

ACSA is the RCoA’s peer-reviewed scheme that promotes quality improvement and the highest standards of anaesthetic service. To receive accreditation, departments are expected to demonstrate high standards in areas such as patient experience, patient safety and clinical leadership. 

Dr Kirsty Maclennan, Royal College of Anaesthetists Council Member presented the teams with a plaque to commemorate their achievement of ACSA accreditation. 

“I would like to offer my personal congratulations to the entire anaesthetic department on achieving ACSA accreditation. It is very impressive to see the commitment and approach of the whole department to sustaining their standards. They have demonstrated their ability and passion for providing the best possible care for their patients.

“Patient safety is at the heart of what we do as a Medical Royal College. The quality improvement demonstrated during the accreditation process has helped the department manage the immense tasks presented to them by COVID-19 and the resumption of normal services.

 “It was impressive to see the innovative practices taking place at the hospital, and the excellent commitment from all staff during the process. As well as meeting the standards, the department demonstrated many areas of excellent advanced practice that have now been highlighted for sharing through the ACSA network.”

Gordon Yuill, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust Clinical Director for Anaesthetics said; “As a team we have always taken great pride in the high standards of care and safety which we employ in the anaesthetics of our surgical and maternity patients. Taking part in the process of ACSA accreditation has helped us hone these standards and work towards improvement wherever we can.

Gaining the accreditation has been a long and dedicated process, and I’d like to say a huge thank you to Stuart Knowles who led on this, and all members of our multidisciplinary team who have worked so hard to make it possible.  We are very proud of this achievement and the reassurance it can offer our patients.”