Anaesthesia on Air Royal College of Anaesthetists

In this first of a series of podcasts recorded at the RCoA's Anaesthesia 2024 conference in Glasgow Ms Jenny Montgomery, Consultant ENT Head & Neck Surgeon, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, discusses her work in transoral robotic surgery (TORS).

Jenny describes how TORS, only recently available to patients in Scotland, is a minimally-invasive surgery that allows access to areas of the throat that would previously have been hard to reach. This tool is especially useful in the west of Scotland, where rates of head and neck cancer are especially high, and can help limit the need for follow-up radio- or chemotherapy.

Jenny also discusses the future of robotic surgery, especially for ENT, and how her anaesthetic colleagues can think about working with robotic surgical devices for head and neck surgery.

To hear from innovative and inspirational speakers like Ms Montgomery at our 2025 annual conference in Belfast, book using the link below.

Further information:



First In Scotland – New Robotic Throat Surgery Gets Underway At The QEUH

Anaesthesia 2025 - book to attend our conference in Belfast

Dr Ramai Santhirapala, Consultant Anaesthetist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust and RCoA Council member is joined by Dr Laura Askins, Senior specialist Dietician, and Dr Roopa McCrossan, Consultant Anaesthetist at James Cook University Hospital.

In this episode, we discuss civility and incivility and their effects on workplace cultures and behaviour. Ramai, Laura and Roopa discuss what happens when we encounter incivility at work, and how we can make our working environments better, safer, and happier - just by being courteous and kind.

This podcast will touch on sensitive issues including bullying and suicide. If you need help, these pages list the support available to you:

Support for individuals | The Royal College of Anaesthetists
Wellbeing support | Association of Anaesthetists

In this episode of Anaesthesia on Air Dr Sekina Bakare hosts a roundtable discussion with Dr Desire Onwochei, Dr Sethina Watson and Dr Daniel Olaiya on the work being done to grow the numbers of Black Anaesthetists, experiences within practice and ongoing challenges.

They discuss promoting equity within anaesthetics, managing microaggressions, and anti-racist best practices following the 'To Grow and Thrive' session at February Updates 2024.

This podcast contains discussion of personal and wider experiences of racism.

In Episode 5 of the Heritage & Archives Series Sarah Ramsay talks to Simon Chadwick about how our perception of observation has changed over several generations of anaesthetists and how a trip to an art gallery can enhance our skills. The episode is chaired by Dr Maria Rollin, Chair of the Heritage and Archives Committee  and has been recorded to complement an article Dr Chadwick has written for the Spring 2024 Bulletin.  

In this Episode of Anaesthesia on Air, Dr Steffan Glaze, Dinwoodie Simulation Fellow at the Royal College of Anaesthetists, hosts a discussion about the new Standards for Simulation-based Practice from the Association of Simulated Practice in Healthcare (ASPiH) with two of the authors, Professor Cristina Diaz-Navarro and Professor Makani Purva, alongside Professor Mary Mushambi, University Lead for Simulation at the University of Leicester.

They share the creation process and aims of the new standards, changes from the previous iteration and potential applications within both practice and teaching. 

In this episode of Anaesthesia on Air Dr Anton Krige, RCoA Clinical Lead for ME/CFS, talks with Dr Charles Shepherd from the ME Association and Helen Baxter, a patient advocate for ME patients, about the College's latest patient information project ME/CFS and anaesthesia. They explore this poorly understood medical condition and the strategies that anaesthetists will find useful in managing these patients in the perioperative period.