Sir Bruce Keogh on the NHS at 70, TopMedTalk Classics
TopMedTalk
TopMedTalk introduces our new “TopMedTalk Classics” series with a classic TopMedTalk episode from 2018 that is still prescient today. This lecture, given by Sir Bruce Keogh marked the NHS’s 70th birthday, a time framed by political volatility, financial constraint, rising demand, and shifting public expectations. Keogh argues healthcare systems must adapt, highlighting the UK’s strengths in medical science, innovation, life sciences, and the scale and complexity of the NHS. He describes quality improvement efforts since 2008, including defining quality as effectiveness, safety, and...
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AOA Meeting: Shaping AI for Anaesthesia
TopMedTalk
The Association of Anaesthetists meeting in London was the perfect spot for us to launch our new series on Artificial Intelligence. Here, Andy Cumpstey and James Bowness discuss the new monthly series and the UK-Ireland “demand signaling” project on AI in anaesthesia, perioperative medicine and acute pain, supported by The Association. They are joined by their guest Nicky De Beer, The Association’s chief executive. She explains that their members want problems defined in advance before technology solutions are imposed from above. She highlights key clinical themes—enhanced monitoring...
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Perioperative Profile: Vanessa Beavis
TopMedTalk
Settle yourself in for another fascinating glimpse behind the curtain as TopMedTalk’s perioperative profiles focus upon the incredible journey of Vanessa Beavis. Recorded at ANZCA’s recent annual scientific meeting in Auckland, TopMedTalk host Andy Cumpsty interviews anesthetist and former ANZCA President Vanessa Beavis about her path from growing up in South Africa to moving to Auckland in 1993. We discuss her early work in obstetrics, solo general practice, and training in anesthesia before emigrating. She describes becoming involved in departmental leadership, navigating hospital...
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Cardiac Biomarkers and Perioperative Management of Right Ventricular Failure
TopMedTalk
From the World Congress of Anesthesiologists in Marrakech, TopMedTalk hosts Mike Grocott and Kate Leslie discuss perioperative cardiac risk assessment with Hilary Grocott, Professor and Head of, The Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics (University of British Columbia) and Michelle Chew Professor of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and editor for the British Journal of Anaesthesia. The conversation reviews perioperative cardiac biomarkers, noting abundant prognostic data but limited evidence for biomarker-led...
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SOAP: Research Frontiers and Translating Obstetric Anesthesia Evidence to Bedside
TopMedTalk
At the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) meeting in Montreal, TopMedTalk hosts Desiree Chappell and Mike Grocott interview SOAP board member Dr. Dan Katz, an obstetric anesthesiologist at Mount Sinai, outgoing annual meeting chair and incoming vice president. Katz reports record attendance—over 900 preregistrations and nearly 1,100 total—plus standing-room sessions and review of 600+ abstracts. He highlights opening with research presentations (magnesium and postpartum hemorrhage, gestational thrombocytopenia and hemorrhage, and potential immunotherapies tied to...
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SOAP: Leadership, Population Health, Patient-Centered Obstetric Anesthesia, and Monitoring Innovation with Grace Lim
TopMedTalk
At the 58th Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) meeting in Montreal, TopMedTalk guest host Desiree Chappell and co-editor-in-chief Mike Grocott interview Dr. Grace Lim, SOAP vice president/president-elect and new University of Utah department chair. They discuss her priorities for her upcoming presidency, healthcare’s shifting challenges, highlighting the Frederick W. Hehre Lecture_,_ from Valerie A. Arkoosh about a systems-focused career from obstetric anesthesiology to leading public health roles in Pennsylvania. Lim emphasizes anesthesiologists as systems thinkers...
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WCA: Shared Decision-Making and Communicating Risk for High-Risk Surgical Patients
TopMedTalk
Our coverage of The World Congress of Anesthesiologists (WCA) in Marrakesh continues. Andy Cumpstey and Kate Leslie discuss high-risk surgical patients with anesthesiologists Debra Leung (The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne) and Duminda Wijeysundera (St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto). They explore how “high risk” extends beyond mortality (noting ~2% elective major surgery mortality in middle/high-income countries) to complications, medical morbidity, cognitive and functional decline, return to independence, and psychosocial factors such as social support. They describe a...
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ANZCA ASM: Incoming President Dr Tanya Selak and FPM Dean, Prof Michael Veltman
TopMedTalk
At the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) and Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) held in Auckland, New Zealand, Kate Leslie and Andy Cumpstey interview incoming ANZCA president Tanya Selak and incoming FPM Dean Michael Veltman about their goals in the next two years and the challenges ahead, and their appreciation of the hard work and commitment of fellows and trainees at the coalface. Dr Tanya Selak is a consultant anaesthetist in Woolongong, Australia. Professor Michael Veltman is consultant pain medicine physician in Perth, Australia. --...
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Improving Maternal Safety with Continuous Noninvasive Blood Pressure Monitoring in Obstetrics
TopMedTalk
At the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) meeting in Montreal, Desiree Chappell and Mike Grocott interview Meghan MacCleary, Obstetrician-Gynaecologist with Banner Health in Phoenix, about multidisciplinary collaboration to improve maternal outcomes. Dr MacCleary describes her high-risk tertiary practice (about 4,000 deliveries/year; 25–26% C-sections) and decision-making for C-section based on safest delivery for mother or baby, amid rising maternal comorbidities, obesity, and older maternal age. She highlights concerns during C-section including patient comfort,...
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WFSA World Congress Scholars Share Lessons and Leadership Insights from Marrakesh
TopMedTalk
New Presenter Amy Gomes and Andy Cumpstey interview this year’s WFSA scholars. We speak with Drs Gabriela Queiroz Do Amaral, Emyedu Andrew, Jedniphat Intrapongpan, and Loreen Sharma. The WFSA Scholarship Programme offers valuable opportunities for early-career anaesthesiologists from low- and middle-income countries to attend international and regional meetings. Find out more now about this exciting opportunity here: -- Join us at Evidence Based Perioperative Medicine (EBPOM) World Congress 2026 in London. Be part of a global conversation as clinicians from around the world gather between...
info_outlineEBPOM USA gets off to an incredible start; the value proposition which drives the push towards perioperative medicine on both sides of the Atlantic. How far do we go when explaining to both practitioners and patients the importance of perioperative medicine, prehabilitation and preoperative assessment? Can a focus upon the value we add motivate people to follow the evidence and provide true enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)?
Presented by Desiree Chappell and Sol Aronson with their guests BobbieJean Sweitzer, Editor of Preoperative Assessment and Management (currently 3rd edition) and the Systems Director of Perioperative Practices at Inova Health, Falls Church, Virginia and Chris Steel, Chief Medical Officer at White River Health System, medical director for the Perioperative Surgical Home Learning Collaborative 2020 and Chief Medical Consultant for Community Business Resources.