Postoperative Care, Communication, Failure to Rescue, AI Monitoring, and Robotics with ASGBI Leaders
Release Date: 03/05/2026
TopMedTalk, Artifical Intelligence in 2026
TopMedTalk
This piece sees the launch of a new series on TopMedTalk: we’re delving further into the world of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare and we’re going to do so at least once a month. Coming from the Association of Anaesthetists in London, Andy Cumpstey welcomes back former TopMedTalk Co-editor in Chief, Desiree Chappell, alongside editor-in-chief Professor Mike Grocott and Associate Professor James Bowness, Consultant in Anaesthesia at University College Hospitals London NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Associate Professor of Anaesthesia at University College London and clinical...
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ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025: Digest Part 2
TopMedTalk
Part two of our retrospective on TopMedTalk’s coverage of last year’s fascinating ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025 in San Antonio, Texas, USA. This is part two of a two part piece. Part 1 is here: This podcast contains clips and discussion from the following podcasts in our free archive: Exciting news from Desiree Chappell Innovations in Anesthesia: GE Healthcare's Advanced Solutions at ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025 Exploring the Future of Perioperative Care: Insights from ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025 Perioperative Profile, Steven Shafer Optimizing Pediatric Blood Health: Insights from ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025 ...
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ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025: Digest Part 1
TopMedTalk
A look back on the TopMedTalk coverage of last year’s incredible ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025 in San Antonio, Texas, USA. This is part one of a two part piece. Featuring clips and discussion from the following podcasts: Pediatric Airway Management Advances: Insights from Annery Garcia-Marcinkiewicz The Center for Anesthesia Workforce Studies at ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025 Understanding Anesthesia Information Management Systems with Dr. David Kennedy Transforming Pain Medicine: An Insight into the Pain Medicine Coalition Clinical Readiness and Training Affiliation in Army Anesthesiology Navigating...
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Perioperative Profile, Rupert Pearse
TopMedTalk
TopMedTalk is proud to present Perioperative Profiles. This month we speak with Rupert Pearse, OBE, professor of intensive care medicine at Queen Mary University of London and a consultant at Royal London Hospital, known for his research on improving outcomes in high-risk surgical patients. In this fascinating piece we speak about his career in perioperative and critical care medicine. Raised in rural Bedfordshire as a farmer’s son, he switched late from plans to study agriculture to medicine, took a year out working as an auxiliary nurse and carer, and entered St George’s, London, where...
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The difficult anatomical airway and the difficult physiology airway
TopMedTalk
TopMedTalk are proud to present The Siobhan Mythen Plenary Lecture, taken from our coverage of Evidence Based Perioperative Medicine (EBPOM) Ireland 2025. Professor Ellen O’Sullivan trained in anaesthesiology and intensive care in UK and USA and is now a Consultant Anaesthesiologist at St James’s Hospital Dublin, Ireland, affiliated to Trinity College Dublin. She specializes in airway management and is Director of the Fellowship in Advanced Airway Management and Simulation. She is Past President of the Difficult Airway Society, DAS, and was appointed DAS Professor of Anaesthesia &...
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Perioperative Medicine Policy, Regions, and Integrated Care Boards: Localising a National Strategy
TopMedTalk
At the Royal College of Anaesthetists’ Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) Perioperative Leads Day in London, host Andy Cumpstey speaks with James White, a perioperative medicine clinician (and qualified general practitioner) working within the NHS in Cheshire and Merseyside, serving as Clinical Lead for Perioperative Medicine and contributing to national improvement work with the Centre for Perioperative Care, Simon Rang, consultant anaesthetist at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust who also contributes to national healthcare improvement work including with the Centre for...
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Adrian Gelb on Neuroanesthesia, Global Patient Safety, and WFSA-WHO International Standards
TopMedTalk
At the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2025 meeting in San Antonio, TopMedTalk hosts Andy Cumpstey and Kate Leslie interviewed Professor of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care at University of California, San Francisco, Adrian Gelb, this year’s Ellison Pierce Lecturer. Dr Gelb recounts training in South Africa, work in England and Canada, and how he was steered into neuroanesthesia at a high-volume cerebral aneurysm center, becoming engaged by understanding surgical outcomes and encouraging trainees to learn the operative field. He describes developing global health interests, joining the World Federation of...
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Postoperative Care, Communication, Failure to Rescue, AI Monitoring, and Robotics with ASGBI Leaders
TopMedTalk
Andy Cumpstey is joined by Christian Macutkiewicz Consultant General, HPB and Hernia Surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Director of The Gallstone Clinic and Manchester Hernia at Spire Manchester Hospital and the incoming President of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, and Dimitris Damaskos Consultant General Surgeon within the Department of Surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (NHS Lothian), Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. They discuss the postoperative period as a critical part of the perioperative journey, emphasizing the...
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Addressing Drug Allergy Labels: Insights and Implications
TopMedTalk
In this episode of TopMedTalk, hosted by Andy Cumpstey at the anaesthesia research meeting in Birmingham, we dive into drug allergy and its mislabeling with Louise Savic, consultant anaesthetist and NIHR doctoral researcher at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK, who specialises in drug allergy and peri-operative anaphylaxis, and Tom Abbott, clinical senior lecturer in anaesthesia and peri-operative medicine at Queen Mary University of London, UK, and a consultant anaesthetist whose research uses clinical epidemiology and trials to improve surgical outcomes and reduce peri-operative...
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The Challenges of AI in Healthcare: A Conversation with Dr. Joe Alderman
TopMedTalk
Andy Cumpstey welcomes Joseph Alderman, a clinical lecturer in anaesthesia at the University of Birmingham, to discuss the hurdles AI faces in the healthcare sector. Dr. Alderman, who has a background in cell biology and immunometabolism, shares his insights into why AI technologies often fail to reach patients. He identifies three primary challenges: misalignment between AI development and healthcare needs, inadequate resourcing, and premature solution-oriented thinking. The conversation also touches on the importance of involving patients and clinicians in the AI development process and an...
info_outlineAndy Cumpstey is joined by Christian Macutkiewicz Consultant General, HPB and Hernia Surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Director of The Gallstone Clinic and Manchester Hernia at Spire Manchester Hospital and the incoming President of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, and Dimitris Damaskos Consultant General Surgeon within the Department of Surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (NHS Lothian), Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh.
They discuss the postoperative period as a critical part of the perioperative journey, emphasizing the importance of clear postoperative communication, reassurance even after “successful” operations, and explaining complications and expected recovery timelines.
They highlight challenges in recognizing deterioration, including reduced reliance on clinical examination skills among junior doctors and the systems-based concept of “failure to rescue,” arguing that consistent ward-based recognition systems and high-volume units help detect complications earlier.
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathways are cited, including using day-3 CRP thresholds to trigger CT imaging for early detection of anastomotic leak. They note post-COVID pressures to clear surgical backlogs have increased situations where patients are operated on by surgeons who did not initially see them, potentially weakening trust and continuity when complications occur, and they discuss flattening hierarchy so trainees can do ward rounds with consultant support.
The conversation covers future technology, including AI for risk stratification and imaging interpretation, and remote continuous vital-sign monitoring, while acknowledging data governance challenges and potential deskilling. The episode closes with a discussion of robotic surgery: improved optics and precision and usefulness for more complex cases (including abdominal wall reconstruction), but with concerns about cost, rollout, training implications, and differing adoption between the UK, US, and New Zealand.
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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 7-9th July at the British Library in London. Three days of evidence-based perioperative medicine, global insights, and expert debate—featuring speakers including Michael Marmot and Ken Rockwood.
Register here -