Neonatal anaesthesia is a high-acuity, relatively low-frequency area of paediatric practice, with variation in clinical exposure, expertise and models of service delivery between centres. NAN-UK provides a national forum to bring clinicians together, share expertise, learn from variation and translate knowledge and experience into better care for neonates and their families.
Our Aims
NAN-UK promotes evidence-informed, high-quality neonatal anaesthesia through national collaboration, education and training, quality improvement, audit and research. We aim to understand variation in practice, develop and share best practice, support appropriate standardisation, and help clinicians acquire and maintain expertise in complex and infrequently encountered neonatal conditions. Close multidisciplinary working with neonatology, neonatal surgery and other specialties involved in neonatal care is central to our approach.
The NAN-UK Link Network
At the heart of NAN-UK is a national Link Representative Network spanning all 24 UK tertiary paediatric surgical centres.
Link Representatives provide a two-way connection between individual centres and the national network, enabling local experience and challenges to inform national priorities while facilitating the dissemination of shared learning, resources and initiatives across the UK.
Our current priorities
- Neonatal anaesthesia training – improving access to clinical experience, simulation and case-based learning, and supporting the transition to independent consultant practice in neonatal anaesthesia.
- National mapping and benchmarking – understanding neonatal anaesthesia activity, service provision and variation across the UK.
- Quality improvement and audit – identifying areas where shared learning and collaborative projects can improve care.
- Clinical and educational resources – developing practical, evidence-informed resources for clinicians.
- Information for families – developing clear, accessible parent and carer information and infographics about neonatal anaesthesia and the perioperative journey.
- Research – supporting multicentre studies and developing a stronger national evidence base for neonatal anaesthesia.
