“NOW if you could count back from ten....,” a patient hears from the anaesthetist as they start counting and quickly slip into unconsciousness long before they reach zero.

Medically trained, all anaesthetists are doctors and have a vast medical knowledge, specifically focusing on body systems and how drugs affect those systems.

Dr William Garrett, a consultant anaesthetist and the department lead at SDH, said: “Our primary function is to optimise the care of patients who are either scheduled to have planned surgery or end up going to theatre for emergency surgery.

“Probably 70 to 80 per cent of our time is spent in theatre.

“To be an anaesthetist you have to be absolutely fastidious and meticulous as a person, you need to make absolutely sure you know everything there is to know about the patient prior to the anaesthetic, for example whether they have heart or lung disease, their medical history and the way they are likely to respond to drugs and medication. You have to dot every i and cross every t.”

In addition to working in theatre, anaesthetists also work in intensive care units. They are involved in resuscitation where required around the hospital, in pre-operative assessment clinics and post-operatively on the wards.

Anaesthetists lead the acute and chronic pain teams, caring for large numbers of patients across the hospital as well as in outpatient clinics.

“If there is a patient who has had a leg amputation for example,” Dr Garrett explains, “and the patient is in severe pain, one of our consultants and a member of a team of nurses will go and see the patient to see what can be done to help them with their pain. Anaesthetists have a very diverse range of skills.”

The hospital has 43 anaesthetists with 26 consultants, 12 trainees and five other career grade specialists.

“We usually work alone,” Dr Garrett said, “but we have anaesthetist assistants who are called Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs).

“You wouldn’t start an operation without an ODP to help you, they help us get the kit ready and the drugs prepared – they have fantastic knowledge and skills.”

Going to medical school at the age of 19, Dr Garrett became a consultant when he was 35.

Currently, it involves about ten years post-graduate training to become a consultant anaesthetist.

“Like many others I went to medical school not knowing exactly which speciality I would end up working in. I made up my mind when I was a junior doctor because every so often, one of the patients I was caring for would get very sick indeed. When that occurred, we used to call the intensive care team to come and help us look after them and I realised there was a level of care above the ward level that I knew nothing about. I wanted to be able to look after the sickest patients.

“While I didn’t go into intensive care work in the end, it set me off down that path, as all the critically ill patients in hospital are cared for by consultant anaesthetists.”

A key role of consultant anaesthetists is supervising trainees with consultants frequently teaching one-to-one.

“We have an excellent reputation within the Wessex region and further afield,” Dr Garrett says.

“SDH is a highly desirable place to work because it is known for its high quality team of consultant anaesthetists and surgeons.”

Joining SDH in 2003, Dr Garrett says he enjoys the delivery of one-to-one care and the team atmosphere of working in theatres.

“I’m not usually on a ward or in A&E/emergency department where I would have 30 patients to look after, I have got one patient on the operating table and I’m giving the best quality care to that patient.

“When you anaesthetise a patient for major surgery and they’re completely pain free afterwards and not feeling sick, that’s a great feeling to know you make a difference.

“Working in a theatre environment is also great fun. There’s a great mix of people from anaesthetists and surgeons to nurses, porters and ODPs, the whole team is trying to do the best they can for the patient and its great working together as part of that team.”