PATIENTS
What is Anaesthesia?
Anaesthesia includes anything that is done to reduce pain such as for patients having procedures. The various forms of anaesthesia used can vary and involve your specialist considering all the factors to determine what they believe is safest and best for you on the day of your procedure.
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The types of anaesthesia available include:
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General Anaesthesia causes a drug-induced unconscious state. You will be asleep and feel no pain during your procedure.
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Sedation involves the administration of drugs to make you relaxed and drowsy. This can vary from being asleep through to a relaxed state but still being able to respond. Sometimes called “twilight sedation” , “awake sedation” or “asleep sedation”. Most patients will have little or no recall of events. When a patient is aware they are still relaxed and pain is being treated by the medications given by the specialist Anaesthetist.
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Sleep Dentistry can be used to refer to either Sedation or General anaesthesia for dental examination or treatment for issues such as fear of dentistry.
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Local Anaesthesia involves an injection of a local anaesthetic drug to numb an area of the body for a procedure. You will be awake but will feel no pain once the area is numb. If being asleep is preferred then local anaesthesia can be administered with sedation.
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Regional Anaesthesia involves a nerve block to numb a region or part of the body for a procedure. Larger nerves to an area or groups of nerves are treated with local anaesthetic. Regional anaesthesia can also be combined with sedation.
What is an Anaesthetist?
An anaesthetist is a highly skilled medical specialist; they are a qualified fellows of the specialist college (FANZCA). These doctors have a major role in your perioperative care. They work as a part of a team.
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What is the Anaesthetic Team?
The Anaesthetic team includes anaesthetic trained registered nurses as well as specialist doctors to directly provide your anaesthetic care. Our teams are also backed by people in the practice who do your procedure whilst you are receiving anaesthesia. Other staff also assist to plan the anaesthetic process, ensure your safety, and provide your care. Family and carers are an important consideration in our model of care. We seek involvement in planning your anaesthetic and post-op care. The anaesthetic team works hard to give you the best care possible and we ask for your feedback and we always aim for patient satisfaction.
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We provide you direct contact details to our anaesthetic care team.
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Our experienced team provide a relaxed and professional anaesthetic experience for all patients even those with, anxiety related conditions, PTSD, “needle phobias” and/or behavioural issues.
Anaesthesia and You
The Anaesthesia and You Brochure is produced and made available by the Australian Society of Anaesthetists to provide you with information about anaesthesia. This material can include what to do before and after your procedure, possible risks and information regarding fees.
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Problems Solved
As a patient*, be assured that our team is focussed on your care, safety and positive outcomes. We are clinicians who chose this area of practice to relieve pain, anxiety, stress and fear as well as provide a high level of technical care. This is akin to that provided at a larger hospital but in an out of hospital or day surgery setting.
We welcome questions and address all concerns, whether from a patient, carer, or family member. We aim to resolve health problems, financial issues, and other elements that relate to your anaesthetic experience.
Your health history will be carefully screened and, if necessary, blood tests and ECG’s for example, may be ordered.
You will be provided with information such as fasting guidelines and sometimes more specific instructions relating to your individual needs (eg. diabetic care).
We suggest you wear loose comfortable clothing on the day and slip on shoes.
An important safety measure and legal requirement is that a responsible adult escort you home and stay with you for 24 hours after your procedure.
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We look forward to working together with you to enhance your overall anaesthetic experience.
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We pride ourselves on providing care that reduces stress, fear and costs with our core principles of patient safety, satisfaction and value foremost.
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*Please note that whilst we help optimise patients for their procedure it is not appropriate for all people to have an anaesthetic in some settings.
Anaesthesia Information
Click the relevant documents to download
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ï• Going home after Anaesthesia
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ï• Anaesthesia for procedures in the mouth; oral, dental and faciomaxillary surgery
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ï• Breastfeeding after Anaesthesia
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ï• Anaesthesia for endoscopy (gastroscopy/ colonoscopy)
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About Anaesthetic Fees
Anaesthesia Fees include any money paid that relates to your anaesthetic care. This is divided into medical fees for the specialist anaesthetist and other out of pocket anaesthetic fees, also known as service fees or facility fees. Our fees are based on providing a team of people for your care that are highly skilled, motivated and interested in value, safety and satisfaction for patients. We provide equipment, consumables, medications, and staff who are involved in your perioperative care well as the people you meet on the day of your procedure. Our value is compared to hospital based services, reviewed against other providers, industry guidelines such as the Australian Medical Association (AMA), the Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA) and Medicare. Medical Anaesthesia fees are at the discretion of your individual specialist anaesthetist.
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Your Fees as a valued client
We encourage you to speak with our team and your specialist anaesthetist about your fees. They will answer all your questions before you pay and before you have your procedure. Individual IFC (Informed Financial Consent) is available to all our elective patients.
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More information about Fees
