SummaryA postal questionnaire survey was sent to Royal College of Anaesthetists' tutors in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to gain insight into current practice with regard to information and consent for anaesthesia. Details of consent practice in three specific areas were requested: anaesthesia in general, teaching medical students during anaesthesia and obstetric anaesthesia. Replies were received from 218 tutors (77%). Of these, 72% of departments had a policy on consent for anaesthesia that was in accordance with The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland guidelines oǹ Information and Consent for Anaesthesia'. We identified three areas of concern. Firstly, almost a third of departments (27%) had no policy on consent for anaesthesia. Second, only 18% of relevant departments obtain specific consent for the teaching of medical students on anaesthetised patients. Third, 1 year after publication of the guidelines, 17% of obstetric anaesthetic units, despite stating an intention to alter their departmental policy based on the Association's recommendations, had not yet implemented any changes.

A breastfeeding protocol has been field-tested in three hospitals. A pre- and post-test design was utilized to measure breastfeeding knowledge of health professionals and mothers before and after implementation of a standard breastfeeding protocol. Although results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in knowledge scores for health professionals and mothers, actual change in score was less than two percent and one percent respectively, compared to preintervention scores. Scores of both groups were not high and indicated limited knowledge in the health professional group in particular. Despite the fact that protocol implementation did not significantly alter knowledge scores, it did initiate positive changes in policies and procedures which may continue to influence knowledge and practice of health professionals.