Higher anaesthesia training
QVH anaesthetists and associate specialists support our operating theatres, high dependency unit and burns unit.
The anaesthetics department has pioneered and developed special expertise in dealing with patients with abnormal airways due to facial deformity, techniques to lower blood pressure and reduce bleeding during delicate surgery, and the use of ultrasound for the placement of regional local anaesthetics for the upper and lower limb.
Clinical experience
The work involves exposure to all aspects of anaesthetic management of the specialties mentioned above. In particular, airway management involving fibre-optic intubation and trans-tracheal jet ventilation, brachial plexus blocks for hand surgery, TIVA/TCI, burns management and major reconstructive plastic surgery. The 2 modules covered are plastics / burns and maxillofacial / dental. There is also an opportunity to do additional modules in management and pre-operative assessment.
Teaching
Protected teaching takes place every Monday between 10.00 and 12.00. The six month programme includes presentations by consultants and covers all aspects of clinical work carried out at QVH and also covers some aspects of hospital management. On alternate weeks prior to the teaching, there is an hour long session rotating between clinical governance and a business meeting. Every two months there is a joint hospital audit meeting and we host an annual QVH study day for the south coast trainees. There is also a monthly journal club which is led by trainees.
Research opportunities
There is a popular Year 5 Clinical Research Fellow post each year, commencing in August, which allows the trainee to become involved in all aspects of research, from developing new research proposals, literature searching, writing protocols, submitting ethics and grant applications, patient recruitment and submitting papers to journals. It also provides the trainee an opportunity to attend appropriate courses in research methodology. Other trainees may also have the opportunity to get involved with ongoing projects.
Grade: Higher Specialist Training – ST5 and above
Educational supervision
All trainees are allocated an educational supervisor who is closely involved with their development during their time at QVH.
All educational supervisors are QESP qualified. The college tutor supervises and leads educational supervision within the department.
Clinical Lead: Dr Tim Vorster
Dr Chetan Patel
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interest: Training
Dr Chetan Patel is the Royal College of Anaesthetists Tutor for the Department, and responsible for the training of the eight specialist registrars. In 2016 he was appointed Director of Medical Education.
Dr Edward Pickles
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Maxillofacial and paediatric anaesthesia; paediatric surgical care; medical education.
Dr Edward Pickles has been a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Queen Victoria Hospital since 2006.
He qualified in medicine from the University of Dundee, and then trained in anaesthesia in Yorkshire and the London areas, including Kings College Hospital, Great Ormond Street and Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead.
Dr Glenn Wearne
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Difficult airway management, pre-assessment, ophthalmic and paediatrics.
Glen Wearne joined QVH in 2005 and is the anaesthetic lead for our day surgery unit.
He qualified in 1991 from Wits University medical school, Johannesburg, undertook his anaesthetic training at King’s College Hospital and a fellowship at Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia in 2002/3.
Dr Joy Curran
Consultant Anaesthetist
Speciality area: Acute pain management, anaesthesia for maxillofacial surgery, paediatric anaesthesia, training and education.
Dr Joy Curran qualified from St. Thomas’ Hospital Medical School in 1987 and has been a Consultant Anaesthetist at Queen Victoria since 1998.
Previously Dr Curran has been a local College Tutor (1999 to 2005), deputy Regional Advisor (2007 to 2013) and Regional Advisor (2014 to 2017) for South East Thames /Royal College of Anaesthesia. She has also been the lead / training programme director for less than full time training for SE Thames for many years until 2014.
Currently Dr Curran is the acute pain lead and guardian of safe working hours for the Trust, alongside carrying out normal theatre anaesthesia sessions.
Dr Alison Chalmers
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Maxillofacial surgery; difficult airway management; preoperative assessment; education.
Dr Alison Chalmers qualified from Birmingham University in 1998. She trained in anaesthetics at the Queens’ Medical Centre in Nottingham and in hospitals throughout the East Midlands. She then completed a one year advanced fellowship in difficult airway management at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.
She is the current Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) Deputy Regional Advisor for Anaesthetics in Sussex. She is the RCoA/Difficult Airway Society airway lead for QVH, and is an author of the 2022 ‘Guidelines for the provision of anaesthetic services for ENT, oral maxillofacial and dental surgery’. This document supports healthcare managers and anaesthetists with responsibilities for service delivery design and deliver high quality anaesthetic services. The guidelines are developed using a rigorous, evidence based process and are accredited by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Dr Chalmers has been a consultant anaesthetist at QVH since 2010.
Dr Timothy Vorster
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Anaesthesia
Dr Vorster was appointed as a consultant at QVH in 2001. He qualified in medicine at University College London and Middlesex Hospitals Medical School and went on to specialise in anaesthesia, training on the King’s College Hospital rotation.
His interests include anaesthesia for major head and neck reconstructive surgery, upper and lower limb trauma and reconstructive plastic surgery. He specialises in difficult airways, intravenous anaesthesia and ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia.
Dr Vorster was appointed Clinical Director of Anaesthetics and Pre-assessment in 2015. He runs a weekly consultant anaesthetic pre-assessment clinic where he sees patients due to have major surgery or who have major medical problems, to ensure their safe and successful treatment at QVH.
He has an interest in the treatment of acute pain and works with the pain team in difficult cases.
Dr Vorster also has a special interest in reducing waste in the NHS and is the hospital’s ‘Green Champion’, and founding member of the QVH Sustainability Development Group.
Dr Jonathan Sanders
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Anaesthesia for burns; intensive treatment unit; maxillofacial surgery and bedside echocardiography.
Dr Jonathan Sanders graduated in 1992 from Newcastle University Medical School. He completed his anaesthetic training at St Georges School of Anaesthesia in 2002.
Dr Sanders joined QVH in 2002 as a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care. His weekly programme typically includes a full day of maxillofacial surgery, a full day of burns intensive care plus two days of plastic surgery. He also has up-to-date paediatric life support accreditation.
Dr Sanders is the lead clinician for the Recovery Unit and is a member of the Nutrition Steering Group. He is also Sepsis lead for the Trust.
He is trained in handheld echocardiography which enables heart problems to be assessed and diagnosed at QVH. This avoids delay to surgery which may result from having to be referred elsewhere for this test.
