the Association of anaesthetists of great britain and ireland

The Association was founded in 1932 by Dr Henry W Featherstone (1894-1967).

General medical practitioners gave most anaesthetics in the UK and Ireland as a sideline then and anaesthetists were usually poorly thought of by other specialists.   They were also poorly paid and relied on surgeons for referrals to administer anaesthesia for private patients and to collect and pay their small fees.  

The Association represents the medical and political aspirations of anaesthetists in the UK and Ireland and has close contact with many other countries. It does not have direct statutory powers, academic, negotiating or co-ordinating.   It promotes and encourages other bodies to further the academic and clinical advance of anaesthesia and the welfare of anaesthetists. It has initiated or promoted all major developments in British or Irish anaesthesia. The Association was involved in the introduction in 1935 of the Diploma in Anaesthetics (DA), the organisation and the considerable expansion in members and the training of specialist anaesthetists for the armed forces in the Second World War. The Association's journal, Anaesthesia, was first published in 1946.

The Association was closely involved in negotiations preceding the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948. As a result, anaesthetists received equal status to other consultants in the NHS.   The Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (from 1992, the independent Royal College of Anaesthetists) was founded at the instigation of the Association in 1947. The Association also supported the foundation of the Faculty (now College) of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1959.

The Association continues to develop.   For example the Group of Anaesthetists in Training and the “Linkman” and “Help for the Sick Doctor” schemes have been initiated. It has issued and revised guidelines and advice and encouraged and supported specialist societies. The Association continues to raise the profile and enhance the image of anaesthetists to the public.

The Association adopted the motto “in somno securitas” (safe in sleep) when it was granted the right to bear arms by King George VI in 1945. Patients and anaesthetists alike can be secure in the knowledge that the Association continues to protect their mutual interests.