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Foreword

I am delighted to present to you the curriculum framework for the training of anaesthesia practitioners. This document has been developed for the New Ways of Working in Anaesthesia (NWWA) programme as part of the NHS Modernisation Agency's Changing Workforce Programme (CWP). The curriculum has been produced by a partnership between the Royal College of Anaesthetists, NHSU and the University of Birmingham, and I would like to acknowledge the contributions of each of these parties and the wider Stakeholder Board in driving forward the development of this new practitioner role. It will be a further two to three years before anaesthetic teams in England can benefit from the skills of these practitioners, but this curriculum represents a major milestone in achieving an expanded anaesthesia team.

The anaesthesia practitioner role is new to the healthcare system in England and it is credit to the Royal College of Anaesthetists and other professionals who are part of anaesthesia teams that they have been willing to embrace this concept and to take forward this collaborative project.

The curriculum framework as presented in this document will allow the NHS to commission anaesthesia practitioner training against the set of national standards and competences. In sites across England a number of NHS Trusts have agreed to be part of this first wave of training. Although there is still work to be done in implementing the programme and ensuring standards, I have every confidence that based on this document NHS Trusts will have available a new skilled and knowledgeable additional member of the anaesthesia team.

I hope that NHS Trusts, education commissioners and universities will work in partnership to facilitate the implementation of this curriculum to enable the introduction of this new role.

Neil McKellar
Chair of New Ways of Working in Anaesthesia Stakeholder Board
Director, Workforce Development
Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic Health Authority

• Download Anaesthesia Practitioner Curriculum Framework - June 2005 (PDF, 439K)