The anaesthetist and intensive care

Abstract

The author retired from active practice as a consultant anaesthetist in the British National Health Service during 1980 at the age of 60. He kept a detailed diary for the last full year as a consultant. One of the Editors suggested that the diary, augmented by his considered views culled from the experiences of a professional lifetime, could form the basis of a series of essays on various aspects of the life and practice of a consultant anaesthetist during the second half of the twentieth century. This essay considers the present and future role of the anaesthetist in intensive care and the need for proper policies of organisation and training in that discipline.