https://anaesthesiargh.com/categories/theatre-life/Recent content in Theatre Life on anaesthesiarghHugoen-gbThu, 05 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000https://anaesthesiargh.com/2024/09/ode-to-the-coffee-machine/Thu, 05 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000https://anaesthesiargh.com/2024/09/ode-to-the-coffee-machine/The coffee machine in our theatre complex has been broken for three days. Morale has collapsed. Productivity is, somehow, even lower than usual. Grown consultants have been seen wandering the corridors with the vacant stare of the severely under-caffeinated. I’ve come to believe that the coffee machine is the most important piece of equipment in any hospital. More important than the CT scanner. More important than the ventilators. More important, certainly, than whatever that thing is in the corner of the storeroom that nobody has used since 1997 but we can’t throw away because “we might need it.https://anaesthesiargh.com/2024/07/the-brief-that-wasnt/Tue, 02 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000https://anaesthesiargh.com/2024/07/the-brief-that-wasnt/The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist was introduced to reduce errors and improve communication. A noble goal. In practice, it has become a speed-reading competition in which we all pretend to listen while thinking about lunch. This morning’s briefing went something like this: Me: “Right, shall we do the brief?” Surgeon: already scrubbing “Yes, yes. Mr Smith, seventy-two, right hip, no allergies, nothing interesting.” Me: “Actually, he’s got—” Surgeon: “Standard anaesthetic, shouldn’t take more than an hour.