Burns Anaesthetic Service

The Burns service at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital provides specialist burns care for the population of Greater London and the South East of England. Originally based at the Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton, it was transferred to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in December 1998.

The Burns Service currently has 17 beds (adults and children)—this includes 2 adult intensive care beds and 1 high dependency bed (adult or child). Within the unit itself there is a dedicated operating theatre which is supported by a team of highly trained burns theatre staff. Burns theatre operating lists run Monday to Friday, although surgery may take place outside routine hours for emergency work.

The burns anaesthetic team consists of a group of dedicated consultant anaesthetists who provide a high quality anaesthetic service centred around the ongoing care of burns patients. Expertise is provided for a large number of burns cases in both adults and children. This ranges from shorter day-case procedures through to patients requiring larger and more complex forms of burns surgery, with more than 500 surgical procedures being performed each year.

Throughout a hospital stay, the burns anaesthetic team is involved in assessing and caring for burns patients before, during and after surgery, as well as assisting in medical management and pain control. The burns anaesthetist also works very closely with the Intensive Care Unit team to provide the highest standards of care for more severely injured burns patients.

For more information about the Burns Service please see Plastics & Burns.