Anaesthetics and Critical Care
Anaesthetics is the medical specialty that provides anaesthesia for a variety of surgical operations and procedures. Anaesthetists, along with nursing and support staff, also run Critical Care, which includes the Intensive Therapy Unit and the High Dependency Unit.
Our professional knowledge, skills and experience enable us to use our expertise in many areas of the hospital. Anaesthetists play a pivotal role in managing multiply injured trauma patients, stabilising them before they go through to the operating theatres. Patients with head injuries may require transfer to a tertiary centre and we provide a safe transfer service.
At Bedford Hospital, a significant proportion of surgical patients are being treated as day cases at present: we provide anaesthesia for these patients so that they are fit and ready to go home in a short timeframe.
We also provide a comprehensive pain relief service for patients. We provide outpatient clinics for patients with chronic pain conditions and interventional procedures such as facet joint injections for back pain. We are also working towards providing a consultant-led preoperative assessment clinic.
Our anaesthetists will listen to your concerns, cater for your individual needs and explain clearly what is going to happen at every stage of your operations.
Our Services
We provide a comprehensive anaesthetic service for all types of surgery available in Bedford Hospital. Outside the operating theatres we also provide our expertise in other areas of the hospital such as the critical care complex, delivery suite and chronic pain clinic. We also prepare patients for surgery by providing thorough pre-operative assessments.
Cancelling or Changing an Appointment for a Pre-operative Assessment
Our anaesthetic departmental secretary will assist you with cancelling or rescheduling your pre-operative appointment. She can be contacted on
01234 355 122 on ext. 2359.
If you need to change your admission date you should contact the main hospital switchboard.
Staff
The L&D Anaesthetics and Critical Care team perform an essential role at this multi-disciplinary hospital.
There are twelve operating theatres in the hospital and each year we perform over 17,000 surgical operations.
The L&D is also a centre for some specialist surgery and we anaesthetise patients for Maxillofacial Surgery, Head and Neck Cancer Surgery and Bariatric Surgery. Anaesthetists play an important role in the Obstetric Service, including providing pain relief in labour and anaesthesia for caesarean sections.