This book provides a clinical guide to the parameters of minimum and maximum standards of patient care to which every anaesthetist should aim. These standards of care are discussed in terms of the knowledge, skills, facilities and resources necessary to conduct safe anaesthesia. Starting with the decision to give an anaesthetic, the book goes from the preoperative assessment and preparation of the patient, through care and monitoring during anaesthesia, to recovery of the patient and the environmental hazards of the anaesthetist. The final chapters place these clinical recommendations in perspective by considering the practice of audit, the impact of standards on an anaesthetic practice and the medico-legal implications of publishing standards in anaesthetic care.