Anaesthetics
QVH has 23 consultant anaesthetists, five associate and trust grade specialists and eight senior anaesthetic trainees with responsibilities to patients before, during and after surgery. The team provide pre-operative assessment, anaesthesia, pain and critical care services in the Trust.
The 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 limb.
QVH is a specialist centre for hand trauma and elective surgery on the hand and upper limb. A large proportion of this surgery is carried out under regional anaesthesia alone, avoiding the need for general anaesthetic, providing excellent post-operative pain relief for these procedures.
QVH has a 5-bedded Critical Care Unit staffed by anaesthetic consultants and registrars, which specialises in the care of patients following major maxillofacial surgery.
Patient information leaflets and videos
The following leaflets provide information on the different types of anaesthetic you may receive. You will be advised in pre-assessment which type of anaesthetic is most appropriate for your surgery.
Further patient information is available from the Royal College of Anaesthetists
Page last updated: 20 May 2024.
Dr Sarah Bailey
Consultant Anaesthetist
Dr Sarah Bailey MBBS, DCH, FRCA, qualified from St Mary’s Medical School and joined Queen Victoria Hospital in 2014.
Her interests include paediatric anaesthesia and regional anaesthesia.
She is currently lead for paediatrics and is part of the hospital’s Green Plan Group whose aim is to help the Trust become more sustainable and reduce its carbon footprint.
Dr Luke Banks
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Endovascular resuscitation and aeromedical retrieval
Mr Luke Banks is a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine working in the areas of critical care, paediatric anaesthesia and anaesthesia for burns and plastic surgery. He is also a consultant in pre-hospital emergency medicine for Kent Surrey Sussex Air Ambulance, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance and West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Page last updated: 16 January 2024.
Dr Ben Carey
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: regional and ophthalmic anaesthesia, patient safety and human factors.
Dr Ben Carey qualified from St. George’s Medical School in London in 2010, and completed his anaesthetic training in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex region. He spent a year at St Vincents’ Hospital Melbourne and the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital as a provisional fellow specialising in Regional Anaesthesia. Dr Carey also worked as a consultant at the Royal Surrey County Hospital prior to joining QVH in 2022. He is regional anaesthesia lead in the trust, and clinical lead for Schwartz Rounds.
He has a Masters’ degree from the University of Edinburgh in Patient Safety and Clinical Human Factors.
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 Gary Chow
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Paediatric anaesthesia, trauma management, resuscitation, medical education, and leadership and management.
Dr Gary Chow is a UK trained consultant anaesthetist. He is a fellow at the Royal College of Anaesthetists and an associate fellow at the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine. He qualified at Barts and the London Medical School and trained in anaesthesia across four deaneries, including burns anaesthesia at University Hospital Birmingham and advanced paediatric anaesthesia at King’s College Hospital. He has been a consultant at Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust since 2021.
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 Ida Forró
Consultant Anaesthetist
Special interests: Perioperative medicine, pre-assessment and patient optimisation, teaching
Dr Ida Forró qualified as a medical doctor at the Third Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague. She completed her training in anaesthesia and intensive care in the Czech Republic in 2012 and has been working in the NHS since 2008. She furthered her expertise with a Post Certificate of Completion of Training Fellowship in Obstetric Anaesthesia at St Marys Hospital in Manchester.
She has been a consultant anaesthetist since 2013 having worked at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, University College London Hospitals and East Surrey Hospital. She was appointed as a substantive consultant at Queen Victoria Hospital in 2019. In 2020, she obtained a Diploma in Perioperative Medicine from University College London.
Dr Forró’s main interest is perioperative medicine. She is the perioperative lead at QVH and leads the national Getting It Right First Time/Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine project at the Trust. Dr Forró enjoys teaching and mentoring. She is an active advanced trauma life support instructor and course director, and the education supervisor for the perioperative clinical fellow at Queen Victoria Hospital.
Page last updated: 11 January 2024.
Dr Niamh Gavin
Consultant Anaesthetist
Dr Niamh Gavin MB BS BSc MRCP FRCA.
Qualified at St Bartholomew’s Medical School in 1998.
Dr Gavin’s specialist areas of interest are patient safety, simulation and human factors.
Dr Julian Giles
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Critical care and burns anaesthesia
Dr Julian Giles qualified from St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School in 1992.
He trained in general medicine at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. He worked as a Lecturer at the Jimma Medical College in Ethiopia before returning to the UK to start his anaesthetic training at St Thomas’s Hospital. He was the LMA Anaesthetic Research Fellow at Oxford University between 2002 and 2004.
He was appointed as a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Queen Victoria Hospital in 2004.
Julian is the research lead for anaesthetics.
Dr Emma Glasgow
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Maxillofacial anaesthesia, paediatrics, training, and simulation.
Dr Emma Glasgow qualified from the Royal Free Hospital, London in 2000. She completed Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians examinations before starting anaesthetic training in 2005. Dr Glasgow trained in hospitals across London, Surrey and Sussex before undertaking fellowships in Brisbane, Australia in 2014. She was awarded a Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in 2016, working as a consultant there before returning to the UK to take up a consultant role at Queen Victoria Hospital in 2016.
Page last updated: 5 February 2024.
Dr Colin Lawrence
Consultant Anaesthetist
Specialist interests: Anaesthesia for cancer and burns reconstruction.
Dr Colin Lawrence gained a BSc (Hons) degree in Physiology from the University of Bristol before completing his medical studies at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in London.
He trained in Anaesthetics at Kings College Hospital and at hospitals throughout the South Thames Region. He was the Difficult Airway Fellow at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals in 2003.
He has been a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Queen Victoria Hospital since September 2003.
Dr Hannah Leaman
Consultant Anaesthetist
Dr Hannah Leaman graduated from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2009, and undertook her anaesthetic training across London, Surrey and Sussex. She joined Queen Victoria Hospital as a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care in 2023. Dr Leaman has pursued additional training with the Royal College of Pathologists and is also a medical examiner at the Surrey and Sussex Medical Examiner Office.
Page last updated: 16 January 2024.
Dr Matthew Lees
Consultant Anaesthetist
Dr Matthew Lees BMedSci(Hons), BMBS, FRCA, FFICM, became a consultant in anaesthetics and intensive care medicine in 2011, joining the Queen Victoria Hospital team in 2018.
He trained at the University of Nottingham Medical School, then completing the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, medical Senior House Officer rotation before moving on to complete his training in anaesthetics and intensive care medicine, becoming a fellow of the faculty of intensive care medicine in 2017.
Dr Lees has a broad spectrum of interests in intensive care, burns anaesthesia and medical training, is an instructor in advanced life support (ALS), advanced trauma life support (ATLS) and advanced paediatric life support. He serves a course director for ALS and ATLS and is an instructor on the Resuscitation Council UK’s Generic instructors Course and the Royal College of Surgeons’ ATLS instructors course, developing the trainers of the future.
Dr Lees also holds the position of deputy medical director at Queen Victoria Hospital and serves as the joint clinical lead for the hospital’s Community Diagnostic Centre’s physiological studies and investigative pathways.
Page last updated: 5 February 2024.
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 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.
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 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 Mark Wyldbore
Consultant Anaesthetist (Military)
Special Interests: Paediatric anaesthesia, regional anaesthesia, major trauma anaesthesia, education, anaesthetic equipment, military medicine.
Dr Mark Wyldbore is a regular military anaesthetist who graduated from Barts and The London Medical School in 2002 having previously worked in television.
After graduation he spent two years as a general duties Medical Officer before starting his anaesthetic training at Frimley Park Hospital. His training included a year at Great Ormond Street Hospital and a deployment to Afghanistan.
Since becoming a consultant anaesthetist, he has held the positions of clinical supervisor, regional training advisor and anaesthetic cadre lead and completed seven military deployments.
He currently splits his clinical work between Queen Victoria Hospital and The Royal London Hospital. His non-clinical roles include being the Clinical Director of 16 Medical Regiment and Chair of the MODs Anaesthetic and Intensive Care equipment group.
He has been a consultant at Queen Victoria Hospital since 2014.
Dr Nadia Wichmann
Consultant Anaesthetist
Dr Nadia Wichmann, MBBS BSc FRCA, qualified in medicine from the Royal Free and University College London Medical School in 2005. During her time there, she pursued an intercalated BSc in Pharmacology, which included physiological studies into the mechanisms of pain.
Dr Wichmann trained in anaesthetics in London, with higher training based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ (GST) and King’s College Hospital London. She was a fellow for Vascular Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at GST in 2015, and the Difficult Airway Fellow at King’s in 2019. Her interests include difficult airways, intravenous anaesthesia, acute pain, anaesthetic pre-assessment, and high-risk anaesthesia.
Since 2020, Dr Wichmann has been a consultant anaesthetist at Queen Victoria Hospital, and she is the lead for acute pain at the Trust.
