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appointed directly from other countries may not be familiar with the protocols in the UK. The following
recommendations are to ensure that they are safe and are supported in the new working
environment:
1. There should be a defined period of directly supervised obstetric sessions. The duration of
supervision will depend on individual circumstances and should be mutually agreed
2. The anaesthetist must have successfully completed the IACOA before being allowed to work
unsupervised.
Theatre staffing
Many units still use midwifery staff to assist in the operating theatre and this has an impact on
midwifery staff on the labour ward. Strategic Health Authorities and Health Boards have been urged to
make significant progress in replacing midwifery staff in the scrub/instrument role [13].
Staffing for theatre recovery and anaesthetic assistance
Parturients requiring anaesthesia have the right to the same standards of peri-operative care as any
other surgical patient, including anaesthetic assistance. Training must be to the standards defined for
the care of the general surgical patient [14].
If the person assisting the anaesthetist is a nurse or midwife, they must have current and effective
registration, and must have been appropriately trained and been assessed as having achieved the
required core competencies [15]. They must be experienced and should assist the anaesthetist on
labour ward on a regular basis in order to maintain competence. The team providing care for women
undergoing obstetric operations must include a dedicated anaesthetic assistant for each patient in an
operating theatre. The assistant should have no other duties in the operating suite concurrently.
Newly recruited assistants should undergo a period of induction before working on the maternity unit.
The training undergone by staff in recovery, whether they are midwives, nurses or Operating
Department Practitioners, must also be of the same standard as that required for general recovery
facilities [16]. Midwives with no additional training are not equipped to recover patients following
anaesthesia. Staff should work in a general theatre recovery unit on a regular basis to ensure
competence is maintained.
All staff must be given regular access to continuing professional development and complete all
mandatory training as frequently as required.
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