What is Anaesthesia?

Anaesthesia is rather clever. It was invented to ensure that patients are unaware and pain free for their surgery. During anaesthesia, the anaesthetist can either anaesthetise (put asleep) part of your body being operated (regional anaesthesia), the whole person (general anaesthesia), or a combination of these. The highly trained anaesthetist will use a combination of special drugs to achieve this goal. We have access to many drugs and tools that will make sure you have a great experience during your surgery. Your individual anaesthetist will be able to explain what he or she plans for your specific needs.

What is an an Anaesthetist?

Anaesthetists are highly trained doctors who have specialised in anaesthesia. It takes a long time and rigorous training to become an anaesthetist. Firstly, a doctor must compete six years of medical school, then complete at-least 3 years as a junior doctor and then undergo anaesthetic speciality training which takes another 5 years. The product of this high standard of training are extremely safe doctors whose only job is to look after you during surgery. Your anaesthetist will have a broad range of skills to ensure you’re safe and comfortable around the time of your surgery.

What are the side effects of anaesthesia?

Anaesthesia is extremely safe. There are however side effects from having any medical procedure, including an anaesthetic. These side effects can range from feeling a little sleepy after you wake up to having an allergic reaction to some of the drugs we administer. The most common side effects from an anaesthetic are sore throat and feeling sick. It would be very rare for someone to have serious side effect from an anaesthetic, but you can be rest assured that your anaesthetist is highly trained to deal with any serious side effects while you are under anaesthesia.

Why is there a separate payment for my Anaesthetist?

Anaesthetists provide a medical service which is separate to the hospital or surgeon. Each Anaesthetist sets their own fee. The majority of the service fee for the Anaesthetist is paid from medicare and your insurance company. However, there may be an additional out of pocket expense if medicare and your insurance company cannot provide full cover for the anaesthetist’s fee. This will be explained before your surgery and an estimate of costs will be provided for you to review. Please ask our friendly staff if you have any questions about your anaesthetic fee.

How do I arrange my rebate from Medicare or my Health Fund?

This can all be arranged for you. Please contact our friendly staff at Anaesthesia Suite, who will be able to organise your medicare and health insurance rebate for you.

I have friends who use a different insurance company, and their out of pocket expenses were different to mine, why is that?

Your anaesthetic fee will depend on a number of factors including the length of your procedure, the time of day, the type of procedure and any medical conditions you have. Your anaesthetic fee estimate will be given to you before your surgery.

Your out of pocket expenses will also depend on the insurance company you are with. Some insurance companies do not cover your anaesthetic fee to the same extent as other insurance companies.

Please contact our friendly staff who will be able to give you an insight into whether you are covered adequately by your health fund.

Please note, under Australian law, it is within your right to change to a different health fund without penalty if you have served all your appropriate waiting times. A simple phone call to you prospective health fund will be able to solve most of your questions around this. Let us know if you need us to help.

I’m a bit confused about the process of having surgery and an anaesthetic, is there anyone I can talk to?

Absolutely! Please give us an e mail or call anytime to discuss your upcoming surgery and we will try to help with any questions you have. If you’d like more information about having an anaesthetic, please feel free to visit the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthesia website for more detailed information.