Publication of the GPAS Perioperative Care chapter and GPAS annual chapter updates

The College is pleased to announce the publication of Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services (GPAS) 2021. This includes a new chapter on services for the Perioperative Care of Elective and Urgent Care Patients. All the GPAS chapters are available here.

Chapter 2: Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services for the Perioperative Care of Elective and Urgent Care Patients replaces the following chapters:

• Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services for Preoperative Assessment and Preparation
• Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services for Intraoperative Care
• Guidelines for the Provision of Postoperative Care.

All GPAS chapters have been developed using our NICE accredited development process. NICE accreditation gives additional credibility to GPAS, providing independent assurance that the guidelines are robust and evidence based.

First published in 1994, GPAS is designed for anaesthetists with managerial responsibilities to set recommendations which inform how anaesthetic departments are run.  Not only does GPAS shape the standards used by the Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) scheme, but national regulators also recognise them.

The following chapters are undergoing a full review for publication in 2022 and have not been updated in GPAS 2021:

• Chapter 5: Guidelines for the Provision of Emergency Anaesthesia 
• Chapter 9: Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services for an Obstetric Population
• Chapter 10: Guidelines for the Provision of Paediatric Anaesthesia Services
• Chapter 13: Guidelines for the Provision of Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Services
• Chapter 17: Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services for Burn and Plastics Surgery.