The Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB) Anaesthetic Department is the largest department within Surgical Services.

The Department provides a 24 hour, 7 days per week service to both Middlemore Hospital, and the Manukau Surgical Centre. The role of the Department is to provide anaesthesia services to all areas of CMDHB.

As an Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Training Institution, adherence to ANZCA standards is reviewed by ANZCA on a regular basis. These cover all aspects of anaesthesia care, both clinical and non-clinical, e.g. equipment, support staff, teaching and training.

The core business of the Anaesthetic Department is the provision of elective and acute anaesthesia services across the Middlemore and Manukau campuses. However the scope of the service extends beyond this to the provision of an acute pain service, pre-anaesthetic assessment clinics, and anaesthesia for obstetrics, medicine and other procedures (e.g. radiology, emergency care and recovery room procedures.) The Department does not provide a chronic pain service currently. Support for postoperative care in the Perioperative Care Unit at Manukau Surgery Centre is also offered.

Information for patients pertaining to Anaesthesia can be found on the New Zealand Society of Anaesthesia website www.anaesthesia.org.nz