About RA-UK
About RA-UK
Regional Anaesthesia - UK (RA-UK) is the UK division of the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and is the UK specialist society for anaesthetists interested in the field of regional anaesthesia. The society name was changed to RA-UK and a new constitution was adopted in 2009 when Ireland left RAGBI (Regional Anaesthesia Great Britain & Ireland) to form their own national specialist society.
The aims of the Society are the advancement of the standards and education in Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Management in the United Kingdom
About The European Society of Regional Anaesthesia
The European Society of Regional Anaesthesia was founded in Heidelberg, Germany in 1980 on the suggestion of the late Professor John Bonica, to further regional Anaesthesia in Europe. The first congress was held in Edinburgh in 1982 and since that year the society has gone from strength to strength, with a current membership of over 2000 throughout Europe. The society is still growing, and has now established a strong track record with a 25th Annual Congress in 2006.
The scientific standard at the annual ESRA congress is now recognised as one of the best in Europe, and as a result carries a high rating with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, who now assign credit hours to all ESRA congresses.
The annual congress has taken place in a different European city each year, with 1995 the first year in an Eastern European city, Prague. The Board of ESRA plan to expand membership in Eastern Europe in line with its aim of improving and standardizing the level of Regional Anaesthesia throughout Europe.
Apart from the annual ESRA Congress, the society holds eight to ten zonal meetings each year focusing on the scientific needs of the particular zone. The European Society of regional Anaesthesia invites you to join this exciting and scientifically progressive organization, and enjoy the benefits membership offers you.
Meet old friends and greet new ones at the annual ESRA Congress, enhance your knowledge in the various aspects of Anaesthesia, and assist the aims of ESRA in furthering knowledge and standards in Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy.
RA-UK Board
The RA-UK Board 2024
President
Dr Nat Haslam is President of RA-UK and a consultant at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. He is a block room pioneer, led the introduction of Prep, Stop, Block and is co-lead for assessment on the UEA RA MSc. He lectures internationally and is course director of SUGRA. @nathaslam
Immediate Past President
Professor Alan Macfarlane is the immediate past president of RAUK, a consultant and Honorary Professor at the university of Glasgow. He has published widely on outcomes in regional anaesthesia and lectures internationally. @ajrmacfarlane
Honorary Secretary
Dr Maria Sebastian is a consultant at the RNOH in Stanmore. She came to the UK for an RA fellowship and liked it so much she stayed. She is leading the advancement of RA at one of the 4 national orthopaedic centres, and is highly active in teaching and training. Maria deals with membership, elections, minutes and general daily running of the society. @mariapsebastian This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Treasurer
Dr Lloyd Turbitt is a consultant in Belfast. He is leading transformation at his hospital, introducing a streamlined hand service. He co-organised the 2019 RA-UK conference in Belfast. Lloyd is currently the treasurer for RA-UK and is responsible for the finances. @LloydTurbitt
Digital
Dr Simeon West is a consultant at UCLH, his interests include medical device development, interventional trials, and of course regional anaesthesia. Sim writes and updates the website, maintains the course booking and manages the society communications such as the newsletter. @uclhregional This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Other Board Members
Dr Jonathan Womack is a consultant at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where he leads RA services. He is heavily involved in RA education, a diplomat and now faculty member of the RA MSc, and research, where his interests include cadaveric studies and teaching of technical skills. Jono is the deputy lead of the RA-UK research network, and research lead. He was reelected for a second term in May 2023. @womackjonathan
Dr Athmaja Thottungal is a consultant in anaesthetics and pain management at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust. She has interests in ultrasound guided pain management as well as anaesthesia, and has run a well known chronic pain ultrasound course for a number of years. She lectures internationally, and is an well regarded teacher due to her fantastic and wide anatomical knowledge and sonographic skills. @athmathottungal
Dr Jenny Ferry was elected to board in May 2023, She is a consultant anaesthetist at the Aneurin Bevin UHB in South Wales , she is leading the RA-UK international research priority Delphi project, as well as being in the team working on the UK Regional Anaesthesia research priority setting partnership project. She is our lead for equality and diversity @jennythatcanbl1
Dr Nav Bahal was elected to board in May 2023. He is a consultant anaesthetist at Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire. He's the course director of and runs the social media account for @BucksUSGRA which offers free, high-fidelity workshops to anaesthetists of all grades and provides training for teams in Africa and Asia. He is our lead for courses. @navBahal This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Trainee Board Member
Dr Mani Bahra was recently elected as our trainee representative. She is on the North Central School rotation in London and has a special interest in regional. She's particularly keen on ensuring a consistent and equitable approach to teaching regional across the deaneries. @manpreet_bahra
Coopted Board Members
Dr Toby Ashken is a consultant anaesthetist at UCLH. He was a highly productive trainee rep for RA-UK for the last 2 years, and has been coopted to the board to continue work on producing the free webinar series we are running over the next year, and organising RAUK24 in London, he's been actively researching and publishing in the field, and is establishing himself as true enthusiast in RA. @numboblivion
Dr Annabel Pearson is a consultant paediatric anaesthetist in Bristol. She was coopted to the board in May 2023 to become our paediatric anaesthetic lead. She is passionate about promoting regional for paeds, and has recently published on the paediatric Plan A blocks. @AMEPearson
Dr David Hewson is a Consultant Anaesthetist at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. He was coopted to the board in May 2024 as the research lead. His PhD was in patient maintained propofol sedation in joint arthroplasty, is widely published and he is an associate professor at Nottingham His major clinical interests are regional anaesthesia, trauma management, neuroanaesthesia, total intravenous anaesthesia, airway management, perioperative medicine and risk assessment. @davidwhewson
A History of RA-UK
History of RA-UK
The American Society of Regional Anaesthesia (ASRA), whose inaugural annual scientific meeting (ASM) was in 1976, held a European satellite meeting in Heidelberg, Germany in 1980 demonstrating the need and desire for a similar European society. As a result, the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia (ESRA) was formed (also in 1980) by Albert & Francoise Van Steenberge (Belgium), Hans Nolte (Germany), Arno Hollmen (Finland) and Bruce Scott (UK).
Bruce Scott was Chairman of this committee and the one who organised the first ASM in Edinburgh in 1982. Initially, ESRA adopted a zonal structure for the different geographical areas with each chairman making up the main society board. One of the first zones was in the British Isles, and called ESRA Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) to denote its non-political basis. A planning meeting was held, in Estepona, Spain in 1983, as a precursor to the foundation of ESRA(GB&I). Bruce Scott also chaired this meeting and was the group’s first President (from 1983-1988).
Zonal ASMs were also developed by ESRA(GB&I), and these started in 1984.
1984 Inaugural ASM
Droitwich 1985 ASM – Oldham The Astra Lecture (AL) (sponsored by Astra) was created at the 1986 ASM as the key note speech.
1986 ASM – Slough AL: Dr Bruce Scott, Edinburgh, UK
1987 ASM – Droitwich AL: Dr Edward Armitage, Brighton, UK
1988 ASM – Bolton AL: Unknown Dr Tony Wildsmith (Edinburgh) elected President at the Bolton ASM (1988-1992).
1989 ASM – Slough AL: Unknown
1990 ASM – Droitwich AL: Dr Bruce Scott, Edinburgh, UK
1991 ASM – Bolton AL: Prof Geoff Tucker, Sheffield, UK
1992 ASM – Edinburgh AL: Prof Gary Strichartz, Boston, USA Dr Tony Rubin (London) elected President at the Edinburgh ASM (1992 - 1996).
1993 ASM – Bristol AL: Dr Cosmo Di Fazio, Charlottesville, USA
1994 ASM – Droitwich AL: Dr Len Carrie, Oxford, UK
1995 ASM – Belfast AL: Prof Henrik Kehlet, Copenhagen, Denmark
1996 ASM – Norwich AL: Dr Sheru Nath, Umea, Sweden Dr Barrie Fischer (Redditch) elected President at the Norwich ASM (1996 - 2004).
1997 – No meeting (the main ESRA ASM took place in London this year)
1998 ASM – Chester AL: Prof Tony Wildsmith, Dundee, UK
In 1999, the ’Bruce Scott lecture’ (BSL) replaced the AL, named in honour of Dr Bruce Scott, who had an international reputation for his work in epidural anaesthesia and, as mentioned above, was one of the founding fathers of ESRA. He unfortunately died from a cerebral haemorrhage in 1998, aged 72. An obituary can be found here: Wildsmith JAW. Obituary: Donald Bruce Scott MD FRCA FRCPEd 1925-1998. Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine 1999; 24: 195-6.
1999 ASM – Penrith BSL: Transient Neurological Symptoms – Neurotoxicity or ‘Potato Picker’s Back’? Dr Dag Selander, Gothenburg, Sweden
2000 ASM – Dundee BSL: Dr Nick Scott, Clydebank, Scotland
2001 ASM – Cambridge BSL: "The future role of regional anaesthesia in fast-track surgery" Prof Henrik Kehlet, Copenhagen, Denmark
2002 ASM – Middlesbrough BSL: "Following on the inspiring work of Bruce Scott" Dr Tony Rubin, London, UK
2003 ASM – Poole BSL: “On the Shoulders of Giants” Dr Edmond Charlton, Newcastle, UK
2004 ASM – Droitwich BSL: “Is this Cockfosters?”, Prof Tony Wildsmith, Dundee, UK Dr Nick Denny (King’s Lynn) elected President at the Droitwich ASM (2004 - 2006).
2005 ASM – Glasgow BSL: “A Road less Well Travelled” Dr Barrie Fischer, Redditch, UK
2006 ASM – Cork BSL: "The History of Regional Anaesthesia" Dr William Harrop-Griffiths, London, UK Dr Nick Scott (Clydebank) elected President at the Cork ASM (2006 - 2009).
2007 ASM – Exeter BSL: “Paravertebral blocks”, Prof Jonathan Richardson, Bradford, UK
2008 ASM – London BSL: "Ultrasound Guided Regional Anaesthesia – Is it here to stay?" Dr Vincent Chan, Toronto, Canada The Unsung Hero Award (sponsored by BBraun) was developed in 2009 in recognition of the hard work and dedication of anaesthetists in the field of regional anaesthesia, and which often goes unnoticed.
2009 ASM – Liverpool BSL: “Interactive Anatomy DVD”, Dr Alain Delbos, Toulouse, France Unsung Hero Award: Dr Fred Sage, East Surrey Dr Barry Nicholls (Taunton) elected President at the Liverpool ASM (2009-2012).
2010 ASM – Belfast BSL: “Ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia – what have we learnt during the last 15 years”, Dr Peter Marhofer, Vienna, Austria Unsung Hero Award: Dr John Barcroft, Stanmore From ESRA’s creation until 2010 there was a major expansion of the society with further introduction of zonal committees leading to a subsequent loss of cohesion and efficiency. At the ESRA ASM in Porto, Portugal in 2010, new bylaws were approved, introducing a Council, formed by elected representatives from the national societies, which replaced zonal committees. At that same time, ESRA(GB&I) (or Regional Anaesthesia of Great Britain & Ireland (RAGBI) which was used as the website name) split to form RA-UK and The Irish Society of Regional Anaesthesia (ISRA). Please see http://www.ra-ireland.ie for more information on ISRA. The RA-UK constitution was formally agreed at the Belfast ASM.
2011 ASM – Cambridge BSL: “Lipid resuscitation: Adventures in medical innovation”, Prof Guy Weinberg, Chicago, USA Unsung Hero Award: Dr Martin Herrick, Cambridge
2012 ASM – Newcastle BSL: “How to merge regional anaesthesia with modern surgical protocols”, Prof Franco Carli, Montreal, Canada Unsung Hero Award: Dr David Conn, Exeter Dr Sean Tighe (Chester) elected President at the Newcastle ASM (2012-2015).
2013 – No Meeting (ESRA ASM took place in Glasgow this year)
2014 ASM – Nottingham BSL: “Does regional analgesia improve outcome in trauma?”, Dr Jeff Gadsden, North Carolina, USA Unsung Hero Award: Dr Stef Oosthuysen, Norwich
2015 ASM – Oxford BSL: “Is intraneural injection so bad and are we just missing the point?”, Prof Rob Raw, Iowa, USA Unsung Hero Award: Dr Susanne Krone, East Grinstead Dr Morné Wolmarans (Norwich) elected President at the Oxford ASM (2015-2018).
2016 ASM – Hull BSL: “Lessons from the past, challenges of the present and the future is intraneural injections”, Prof Paul Bigeleisen, Maryland, USA Unsung Hero Award: Dr Ian Williams, Hull
2017 ASM – Brighton BSL: “From humble beginnings to the road ahead”, Prof Admir Hadzic, Genk, Belgium Unsung Hero Award: Dr Anthony Allan, Swindon
2018 ASM – Swansea BSL: “From anatomy to patient-centred outcomes - meaningful participation from all is required”, Dr Michael Barrington, Melbourne, Australia Unsung Hero Award: Dr Jimmy Myo, Swansea Dr Amit Pawa (London) elected President at the Swansea ASM (2018-2021).
2019 ASM - Belfast: "Opportunities and challenges in the renaissance of Regional Anaesthesia", Dr Ki Jinn Chin, Toronto, Canada Unsung Hero: Anand Sardesai, Cambridge.
2020 No ASM due to global pandemic.
2021 Virtual ASM - Sheffield: "Addressing the challenges and securing the future of Regional Anaesthesia", Dr Ed Mariano, Stanford, USA Unsung Hero Baskar Manickam, County Durham and Darlington. This ASM was, by circumstance, RA-UKs first attempt at a virtual conference. The UK lecturers broadcast from a studio in Sheffield, with the international lecturers videoconferencing in. A huge success, it brought in new membership international, and was the most highly attended confernece to date. Prof Alan MacFarlane (Glasgow) elected president (2021-2024)
2022 ASM - Edinburgh, held jointly with ISURA: BSL Colin McCartney.
2023 ASM - Newcastle: "Standing on the Shoulders on Giants" BSL-Dr Sandy Kopp. Unsung Hero:
2024 ASM - London: "Beyond the needle: Exploring the evolving landscape of regional anaesthesia education in the digital age". BSL - Dr Amit Pawa, GSTT. Unsung Hero; Dr Damon Kamming, UCLH. Dr Nat Haslam (Newcastle) elected president (2024-2027)
I would like to thank the following people for helping me piece together the history of RA-UK for this timeline: Tony Wildsmith, Barrie Fischer, Chandra Kumar, John McClure, Martin Herrick, Nick Scott, Barry Nicholls, Matt Oldman and Sean Tighe. I would also like to make reference to the following publication, which was invaluable in discovering the beginnings of ESRA: Van Zundert A, Wildsmith JAW. The European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine (1982-2012): Thirty years strong. Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine 2013; 38: 436-41.
Dr Jim Parry Trainee Representative RA-UK July 2018, updated annually.
Equality & Diversity
RAUK is committed to encouraging equity and diversity. The society recognises the value and contribution of individual differences to achieve our full potential.
RAUK strongly opposes any form of unfair discrimination on grounds of age, race, disability, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or beliefs.
RAUK is determined to ensure all members are fairly treated, equally respected and are given equal opportunities, encouraging these values within all our professional activities and relationships, and providing an environment that promotes fairness and dignity for every member.
Dr Maria Sebastian, Lead for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. RAUK, 2020.
Further reading: