Standards of Care in Anaesthesia

The title of this useful and interesting British book from the Royal London Hospital is significantly misleading and may reflect more marketing department than editorial department influence at the publishing house. "Standards of care" is a field that has evolved, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, with very specific meanings in the medical-legal and quality assurance/quality improvement arenas, but which this book does not directly address. Anesthesia has been the unquestioned leader among medical specialties in implementing meaningful standards of practice, heightening the draw of the title. However, this book actually is a compendium of the authors' opinions about what constitute the basic minimum elements of modern anesthesia care. It almost could function as a reasonable basic text and will be suitable reading for anyone learning or reviewing anesthesiology.

Further, the British slant itself is often interesting, at times appearing somewhat naive compared to 1992 US reality,