Airway Training Workshops: United Kingdom Survey

In the last few years, there have been many publications doubting the quality and availability of airway management training in the United Kingdom (UK). Airway Training Workshops (ATWs) are among the many educational tools devised to ensure good quality airway management training. We conducted this survey to determine the availability and setup of the ATW in UK, and to enquire from respondents whether guidance and regulations from the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCA) or the Difficult Airway Society (DAS) are required.A structured questionnaire was sent by post to the college tutors of all the 273 anaesthetic departments in the UK. All data was collated on to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and then subsequently analysed. 219 replies were received giving a response rate of 80%. This survey found that the ATWs in the UK follow no standardised national learning objectives, are limited in number and diverse in content and set up. In agreement with the majority of respondents, we suggest that regulatory bodies and societies like the RCA and the DAS could provide guidance on the learning objectives and set up of airway training workshops.