Anaesthesia Negligence

Anaesthesia is a medically induced state of unconsciousness and pain relief, used to help people to undergo surgery.

Local anaesthesia creates a numbing sensation in a particular part of the body while a patient is conscious.

General anaesthesia causes a patient to lose consciousness and sensation during a procedure.

Both general and local administration of anaesthetic agents carry a degree of risk. Administering too little or too much anaesthetic agents can lead to serious harm.

For a patient to give proper consent, a doctor must ensure understand any risks involved with the procedure and the use of anaesthesia. Prior to the procedure, a doctor must undertake an assessment of the patient to determine whether they are at risk of any adverse effects.

During any procedure requiring anaesthetic there must be a certain number of appropriately qualified staff, which varies, depending on the procedure. The surgeon and the anaesthetist both have duties of care to ensure that the anaesthetic has taken effect prior to the commencement of the procedure and that the appropriate degree of anaesthesia has been given.

Being in a state of “anaesthetic awareness’ is estimated to occur in as many as 10% of procedures. Our medical lawyers regularly undertake cases involving anaesthetic awareness which is more often than not avoidable