Returning to ‘new normal’ working

7 May 2020

As the UK and Ireland move beyond the current peak (or ‘surge’) in the COVID-19 pandemic, national (state) health systems are looking to resume non-emergency and some elective surgery. Clinicians will rightly have concerns about what this means for their patients and for themselves. The ICM and anaesthesia COVID-19 collaborative in the UK has published a document describing when anaesthetic departments can start to move towards planned surgery, based on an assessment of their readiness.

To ensure we do not inadvertently contribute to a second surge, the Association of Anaesthetists has produced a list of those areas we believe need further consideration. We acknowledge that not all these questions can be answered now; some will require national policies to be developed while others will require local solutions, so that our patients, colleagues and their families are not placed at risk.

More information is available here.

ENDS