Anaesthesia on Air

Welcome to this  series of podcasts devised by the RCoA Heritage and Archives Committee.  In this episode, Pierre Foex and Helen Higham talk to Maria Rollin about their work together, the importance of good mentoring and Pierre's 50 year association with the College and 66 years association with anaesthesia.
They also talk about the success of the Cardiac Disease and Anaesthesia Symposium, which has now been running for over 20 years.

In this episode, Dr Eoin Dore speaks to Miss Rachel Hargest following her presentation at the Winter Symposium 2025, where she delivered the Webb Johnson Oration Award lecture: Challenges and Opportunities for Surgeons and Anaesthetists in Global Emergency, Critical and Operative Care. 
Miss Hargest shares what it really takes to deliver safe, effective surgery in low‑resource settings. From inventive problem‑solving and ethical challenges to strengthening anaesthetic and surgical training worldwide, this episode uncovers the realities, opportunities and big global health questions shaping care today. A fascinating conversation for anyone interested in global surgery, anaesthesia, and building sustainable healthcare systems.
Recorded Friday 21 November 2025
Related information:

RCS England-LSE Global Surgery Policy Unit - LSE

Miss Rachel Hargest Webb Johnson Oration 2025 presentation

In this episode, Dr Andrew Vaughton, former Consultant Anaesthetist at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation, shares his experience following his 2021 Motor Neurone Disease diagnosis and subsequent medical retirement. Andy now focuses on MND awareness, fundraising, and promoting health and community support.
He’s joined by his wife Dr Susanne Vaughton, a former GP who left medicine after Andy’s diagnosis to become a full‑time writer. Known to readers as Susie Tate, she now balances authorship with advocacy and family life.
Together, Andy and Susie discuss their projects, their commitment to supporting MND charities, and how they’re using their time and platform to create meaningful impact. This episode highlights purposeful action, the strength of partnership, and a shared commitment to making a meaningful difference.
Recorded Friday 21 November 2025
Related information:

Guinness World Record: Longest Beach Touch Rugby Game | £100k Raised for MND

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation

Andy’s Army fundraiser for My Name'5 Doddie Foundation

In this podcast Dr Samantha Black, Dr Maya Sussmann and Chair of Patient voices at RCoA, Jenny Westaway discuss the use and growth of AI large language models and their role in the patient-clinician conversation, and the various risks and opportunities this presents. 

They discuss the latest technology being used and how patients are currently using AI to inform themselves about healthcare.

Recorded 26 September 2025

Related information:

Sycophancy in GPT-4o: what happened and what we’re doing about  it: https://openai.com/index/sycophancy-in-gpt-4o/

Update that made ChatGPT 'dangerously' sycophantic pulled https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4jnwdvg9qo

In this podcast, recorded at our Anaesthesia 2025 conference in Belfast consultant anaesthetists Dr Branislav (Brano) Mislovic and Dr Will Donaldson discuss developments in paediatric regional anaesthesia, following Brano's address to the conference.

Brano and Will address misconceptions around paediatric regional anaesthesia, the use of ultrasound and the various opportunities and challenges around this. 

Recorded 20 May 2025

Related information: 

Association of Anaesthesia: New blocks on the kids: core basic nerve blocks in paediatric anaesthesia