RAUK 20

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Plan A Blocks

PLan A AWe are pleased to announce a new section of the website entitled Plan A blocks.
 
A recent editorial by Turbitt et al in Anaesthesia highlighted the inconsistencies in education and training of anaesthetists to perform basic level regional blocks, and hypothesised that the explosion of new techniques facilitated by ultrasound had compounded the problem by intimidating the normal practitioner. They drafted a list of seven Plan A blocks that cover the key areas of surgery/acute pain, and suggested that every anaesthetist should be proficient in these, leaving the expert RA practitioner to help provide blocks for more complex circumstances. The text of the editorial is provided.
 
At RA-UK we believe in the widespread adoption of regional anaesthetic techniques for all, and it is our mission to improve patient care by promoting excellence in RA practice and education. 
 
We endorse the 7 Plan A blocks suggested, and have made available a new educational resource based on our popular Pocket Guide to Regional Anaesthesia - Second Edition. We will continue to update this section should new evidence arise to suggest other blocks fit the brief of “highest possible value to the greatest number of patients”. We hope that this can be used to teach and train the next generation of anaesthetists so that no-one comes out of training with an inability to provide this standard.
 
Regional experts will, of course, continue to provide the wide range of blocks as they see fit, and continue to research and push the boundaries of analgesia, and we fully support that endeavour.

Election to RA-UK Council 2020

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Nominations are being sought for up to 2 positions on the RA-UK Council, plus one trainee representative.

The duration of the appointment is for up to 3 years. Council members will be expected to attend 2 full board meetings per annum, contribute to the general working of the society, and undertake specific roles and responsibilities as directed by the President. For further information or informal enquiries about the role please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Each nominee must be:
i. An Ordinary member of the Society  in the year of the vote and have been a member for at least one year. ii. Proposed and seconded by two Ordinary members of the Society.

Please note that only one applicant from any hospital/institution will be considered. Nominations should be returned by post and email to the Honorary Secretary at the address below by 12:00 Mon 13th April 2020. 

All RA-UK members will be invited to participate in an online ballot which will commence on Monday 20th April 2020. The election results will be announced at the RA-UK Annual General Meeting in Sheffield on Tuesday 21st May 2020.

Please complete the following Appication Form (and candidate statement), and submit via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. along with a digital photo for display on the RA-UK Website. A paper copy should also be posted to the address at the bottom of the application form.

 

Please note that all ordinary members of RA-UK are eligible to vote. This includes Full ESRA members from the UK who have not also joined RA-UK. If you believe you are eligible to vote, but aren't an RA-UK member, please register your intent to vote prior to April 1st 2020, along with your ESRA membership number to the webmaster email.

Pocket Guide to Regional Anaesthesia now available

We are delighted to announce that the shiny, brand new second edition of the RA-UK Pocket Guide to Regional Anaesthesia is now available to purchase from Amazon.

Those waiting on copies promised for membership should now have been received, (if you think you are due a book and havent received one, please contact the membership helpdesk on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). We have plenty of stock for bulk orders for courses etc.

Thanks for your patience, and we hope you like the new book!

 

A call for RA/ERAS protocols

Dear all,

At RA-UK 2019 I noticed that one of the most photographed slides of the conference was Dr Sandy Kopps' ERAS protocol for knees, which gave me a thought....

Why not host as many regional anaesthesia and enhanced recovery protocols as you'd like to share?

In time I hope this will become a valuable resource where people can see what others are doing, learn from and be inspired by different ways of doing things, as well as just plain not reinventing the wheel each time. We are interested in hearing from institutions around the world for their contributions.

If you have a protocol you're proud of, please send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and we will upload to the site. Please send in word or pdf, but ensure it has your institutional affiliations.

RA-UK will provide these on the basis that they do not encompass societal recommendations of care, but rather a learning resource.

A message from the President

RAUK 2019

I am writing this piece for the website just over a week since the 2-day #RAUK19 conference in Belfast on 16THMay 2019. The last year went past in a flash and was the culmination of hard work on the part of significant number of people, all of whom were instrumental in the production of a record-breaking meeting for RA-UK.

I must mention the incredible local organising committee consisting of Dr. Rosie Hogg, Dr. Lloyd Turbitt, Dr. Dave Johnston, Dr. Peter Merjavy and Dr. Michael Jones. Their passion and drive was contagious and they succeeded in putting together an inclusive meeting full of innovative ideas, incredible imagery, hi-tech audio-visual support and a staging set up that brought the speakers out into the audience in an engaging manner that I have never really seen at a conference before.IMG 0131

I received significant support from all of the RA-UK board, but special mention must go to Dr. Alan Macfarlane, our treasurer, who helped keep things on track and tempered our enthusiasm appropriately, Dr. Sim West, our webmaster, who dealt with an inordinate number of requests from us all, and Dr. Nat Haslam, our secretary who did everything else!

We were also supported by a brand-new Event Management Company, EMD, who via Kate Stephenson and Nick Gray, helped bring our dream alive.

Advertise my course

In order to advertise your course on RA-UK, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the following details:

  1. Course name
  2. Date(s)
  3. Venue
  4. Brief description of what you are offering
  5. Cost (including any discounts for RA-UK members)
  6. Booking details (either link to own site or how to pay)
  7. CPD (if approved).
  8. Contact email for course enquiries.

You may also want to attach any images you'd like added to your page.

A pdf (of less than 1Mb in size) of the course program can be attached (anything else will not be uploaded), or a course advert as a jpeg (of <1mb) can be used if all the information above is self-contained and a suitable url is provided to link to).

 

If you wish to have your course approved by RA-UK, which will attract higher web traffic, please follow the link

New Patient Information Video

rsz consentvideoRA-UK are pleased to announce the launch of a new patient information video titled "Nerve Blocks: An Information Video For Patients". The video provides information for patients undergoing surgery under an upper limb block and we would encourage all members to direct patients to this excellent resource.

The video, produced by Dr Anthony Carey and Dr Ruth Greer from Bristol, was funded by an RA-UK Small Project Grant.The videographer was Rupert Ward-Lewis.

The video may be accessed on the RA-UK Youtube channel or watched on the RA-UK Website.

Meetings & Courses

Looking for regional anaesthesia courses or events to attend?  Look at our Meetings Section which contains a list of forthcoming events, RA-UK Official courses are run by current or previous board members and part of the profit goes towards benefitting the society, RA-UK approved courses meet educational standards set by RA-UK, and we also advertise other courses internationaly for our members benefit. 

RA-UK You-Tube channel

rsz youtubeCheck out the RA-UK You-Tube channel - high quality video demonstrations of US guided blocks (videos available - Interscalene , Supraclavicular,Axillary,Radial, Median, Ulnar, Femoral,Proximal Sciatic, Popliteal, Tibial, Rectus, Ilioinguinal, TAP,and Epidural).

 

Pocket Guide to USGRA Book

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This second edition of the handbook covers the principles of ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia and the technique to perform all commonly used ultrasound-guided upper limb, lower limb, trunk and neuraxial blocks. It has been updated with all new images and sections on Quadratus Lumborum, Fascia Iliaca, Adductor Canal and Erector Spinae Block.

It is now available to order on Amazon at the bargain price of £22 inc p&p. 

Courses can order in bulk (>15 copies) by emailing support@ra-uk.org.