Celebrating 10 years of anaesthetic excellence with ACSA

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation by the College, which was received by the anaesthesia department at Homerton NHS Foundation Trust in August 2014.   

The College congratulates the 54 departments across the UK who have achieved ACSA in the last 10 years, including 26 departments that have achieved re-accreditation and two departments – including Homerton – that have been accredited for a third time.  

Behind each of those accreditations is a team of people who are committed to improving the quality of the anaesthetic services they provide for patients. To achieve accreditation is a marker of a hospital’s commitment to patient safety and excellence of care.  

Improvement through self-assessment and peer review 

ACSA is a voluntary accreditation scheme for NHS and independent sector organisations to benchmark themselves against a high set of standards based on the College’s Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthetic Services (GPAS). Departments first undertake self-assessment against the ACSA standards, which often leads to improvements being made before the peer review process begins.  

In the last decade, our ACSA team has conducted 120 review visits during which ACSA reviewers support departments to find ways to improve standards. ACSA standards and assessments are designed to be flexible to allow departments to make the changes most appropriate for their circumstances. ACSA review can also give departments the backing to leverage support from their wider hospital to make necessary changes. 

Demonstrable benefits for patients 

ACSA has brought demonstrable benefit for patients. For example, over the last ten years, the accreditation process has resulted in at least 20 departments increasing the provision and/or use of capnography, ensuring all patients are appropriately monitored. Another 11 departments improved their preoperative assessment services, particularly those for children, and nine departments have introduced or expanded separately staffed elective caesarean-section lists. 

The College has worked hard to ensure that ACSA itself continues to improve. Over time we have adapted the scheme by regularly reviewing the standards in response to feedback, for example to make them clearer and better suited to consistent assessment. We update the standards in line with changes to GPAS and other national guidance and undertake a full review every three years. The next full review of standards will take place in 2026. 

Register using our online ACSA portal 

In 2020 we launched the ACSA portal, an online webtool for departments to self-assess against ACSA standards and upload their evidence for review. The portal is free for NHS departments and provides access to the scheme’s library of good practice, which contains examples of how other departments have met ACSA standards.  

The success of ACSA is testament to the ongoing commitment of our members and their colleagues to delivering improvements in patient care. We encourage all departments that are not already signed up, in both the NHS and independent sector, to take advantage of the scheme to improve their services for patients.