North: Anaesthesia and ICM Programmes

Welcome to the webpages of the North of the region Anaesthesia and ICM Programmes.

Hospitals in the Programme

The Programme is based in five acute hospital Trusts within the North region namely:

• University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (includes Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital, St Michael’s Hospital, South Bristol Community Hospital and Western General Hospital)
• North Bristol NHS Trust ,
• Royal United Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Bath,
• Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust (comprising of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General Hospital)
• Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Swindon.

For more details see our Hospitals. (insert new hyperlink – to be added)

We are committed to minimising rotations, in keeping with the 10 point plan, while also recognising the value in being trained in more than one department. All placements are made with discussion between the Resident doctor and TPD.

Stage 1 training is usually across 2 Trusts. Stage 2 training is delivered with 18 months in the Bristol Hospitals and the remainder in a DGH. Stage 3 training placements are organised following discussion with the TPD to both minimise rotations and accommodate the residents’ training preferences. We endeavour to have a minimum of 12 months in any DGH placement and 9 months in each of the Bristol Trusts.

Education

We run regular regionally co-ordinated programmes for candidates preparing for Primary FRCA, Final FRCA and FFICM exams as well as post-FRCA study days. There are revision courses and mock examinations prior to each exam sitting (see Teaching Days- insert hyperlink).

Who’s who within the Programme

For a list of contacts within the Programme please visit the Contacts page (hyperlink)

Ensuring High Quality Training

We are committed to provide very high quality Anaesthetic and ICM training across the Severn region and we adapt our programmes based on residents’ feedback. This comes through:

• Residents’ representatives from all Stages training reporting residents’ feedback at our 4- monthly Educational Board meetings
• Annual Quality Panel reviews of all the hospitals
• Exam pass rates (consistently higher than the national average)
• GMC survey results

Our Annual Training Quality Panels, to which resident representatives from each hospital are invited, gives us a better idea of what is really happening in all aspects of training quality in each of the hospitals we hold an. We specifically look for:

• areas that could be improved 
• outstanding practice from which other hospitals could learn 

This way we aim continually to improve the standard of training and to address any areas of concern. 

Joining the Programme

The programme appoints Core Stage 1 anaesthetists for both August and February start dates (approximately 9 per year) and ACCS Stage 1 anaesthetists for the August start date (approximately 15 per year) with a total of over 100 Anaesthetic Doctors in Training within the Stage 1 programme. For more details on the Core Anaesthetic training please visit the Core Training Programme Pages (insert Hyperlink). For the ACCS programme please visit the ACCS Training programme pages (insert hyperlink).

We appoint at ST4 level for both February and August start dates with a variable number of posts available for each intake. The Higher Programme has over 100 Anaesthetic Doctors in Training currently in post. For more information on the Higher Programme please visit the Severn Higher Anaesthesia Programme page (insert hyperlink).

The ICM programme has a mix of both single and Dual speciality residents and has over 50 ICM residents currently in training. For details of the programme please visit the ICM Programme training pages (insert hyperlink).

We welcome those who wish to apply for Less Than Full Time have a flexible training advisor and a LTFT trainee rep, who are both useful sources of advice. 

Thinking of applying?  

If you are thinking of applying to the North of the region Programme please explore the website and if you have any unanswered questions contact either Joseph Campbell,  Education Programme Manager, or Chloe Llewellyn,  Education Programme Co-ordinator who will direct your query to the relevant person.