Summary There is growing evidence that anaesthetic trainees experience, and may be particularly susceptible to, high levels of work stress, burnout and depression. This is concern for the safety and wellbeing of these doctors and for the patients they treat. To date, there has been no in‐depth evaluation of these issues among UK anaesthetic trainees to examine which groups may be most affected, and to identify the professional and personal factors with which they are associated. We conducted an anonymous electronic survey to determine the prevalence of perceived stress, risk of burnout/depression and work satisfaction among anaesthetic trainees within South‐West England and Wales, and explored in detail the influence of key baseline characteristics, lifestyle and anaesthetic training variables. We identified a denominator of 619 eligible participants and received 397 responses, a response rate of 64%. We observed a high prevalence of perceived stress; 37% (95%CI 32–42%), burnout risk 25% (21–29%) and depression risk 18% (15–23%), and found that these issues frequently co‐exist. Having no children, > 3 days sickness absence in the previous year, ≤ 1 h.week−1 of exercise and > 7.5 h.week−1 of additional non‐clinical work were independant predictors of negative psychological outcomes. Although female respondents reported higher stress, burnout risk was more likely in male respondents. This information could help in the identification of at‐risk groups as well as informing ways to support these groups and to influence resource and intervention design. Targeted interventions, such as modification of exercise behaviour and methods of reducing stressors relating to non‐clinical workloads, warrant further research.

Summary Anaesthetists experience unique stressors, and recent evidence suggests a high prevalence of stress and burnout in trainee anaesthetists. There has been no in‐depth qualitative analysis to explore this further. We conducted semi‐structured interviews to explore contributory and potentially protective factors in the development of perceived stress, burnout, depression and low work satisfaction. We sampled purposively among participants in the Satisfaction and Wellbeing in Anaesthetic Training study, reaching data saturation at 12 interviews. Thematic analysis identified three overarching themes: factors enabling work satisfaction; stressors of being an anaesthetic trainee; and suggestions for improving working conditions. Factors enabling work satisfaction were patient contact; the privilege of enabling good patient outcomes; and strong support at home and work. Stressors were demanding non‐clinical work‐loads; exhaustion from multiple commitments; a ‘love/hate’ relationship, as trainees value clinical work but find the training burden immense; feeling ‘on edge’, even unsafe at work; and the changing way society sees doctors. Nearly all trainees discussed feeling some levels of burnout (which were high and distressing for some) and also high levels of perceived stress. However, trainees also experienced distinct elements of work satisfaction and support. Suggested recommendations for improvement included: allowing contracted hours for non‐clinical work; individuals taking responsibility for self‐care in and out of work; cultural acceptance that doctors can struggle; and embedding wellbeing support more deeply in organisations and the specialty. Our study provides a foundation for further work to inform organisational and cultural changes, to help translate anaesthetic trainees’ passion for their work into a manageable and satisfactory career.

Summary Vascular access formation surgery for renal replacement therapy can be performed under local, regional or general anaesthesia. Regional anaesthesia may offer several advantages, however the sensory innervation to the upper medial arm can be difficult to adequately block. We describe a novel regional anaesthetic technique using both supraclavicular brachial plexus and paravertebral blocks for a multimorbid 73‐year‐old woman undergoing brachioaxillary fistula formation with a synthetic graft. An ultrasound‐guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block was performed, followed by an ultrasound‐guided T2/3 level paravertebral block. Adequate sensory blockade for surgery was achieved. Supplemental local anaesthetic infiltration was not required, and the operation was well tolerated by the patient. We consider this to be a valuable regional anaesthetic technique for vascular access formation surgery involving the upper arm.

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