A survey of anaesthetic charts

This survey reviews the structure and content of all anaesthetic record charts in use in the 40 hospitals of the Yorkshire Regional Health Authority in the light of previous recommendations. Twenty-two different anaesthetic charts were used by 290 anaesthetists in this region. Some of the charts did not meet the ideal standard for size (A4) and the majority had no colour coding. Fourteen of the 22 charts omitted important headings concerned with patient identification and eight charts did not provide a record of the whole perioperative period. Some comprehensive forms are in use, chiefly in smaller hospitals, but there have been few changes in design in the last 10 years despite increasing medicolegal awareness.