Paediatricians and anaesthetists
It's not an easy job I do, and maybe not to everyone's taste, but it is important and over the thirty five years I have been doing it I have had good reason to be grateful for help from caring and careful anaesthetists.
"My work is mostly with children who have complex disabilities and with children who have been abused or maltreated. Anaesthetising children with complex or multiple medical problems and disabilities is a huge challenge to know what is best for the child and their family. Anaesthetists work as part of a multidisciplinary team to try and get this right and in my experience they usually do.
"Safeguarding and work with maltreated children is different again, and for anaesthetists it ranges from recognising signs of abuse, resuscitating severely injured children, managing them on intensive care, and occasionally contributing to their ongoing care by writing reports and legal statements. Health and social work professionals, police and lawyers all depend on each other to contribute their bit of expertise, and children depend on us all working together for their safety and welfare.
"It's not an easy job I do, and maybe not to everyone's taste, but it is important and over the thirty five years I have been doing it I have had good reason to be grateful for help from caring and careful anaesthetists. It's not an easy job they do either."
Dr Richard Reading, Community Consultant Paediatrician, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Trust
