Benedikt Preckel MA, MD, PhD

Dr Benedikt Preckel has been named professor of Anaesthesiology, specialising in Patient Safety during the perioperative process in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Amsterdam (AMC-UvA). Benedikt Preckel’s research focuses on the quality of care and patient safety before, during and after surgical and diagnostic procedures conducted under sedation or anaesthesia. His main area of interest is the reallocation of duties at anaesthesiology departments: nurse anesthesiologists independently sedate patients (providing both conscious sedation and deep sedation) during diagnostic procedures, and are trained to conduct independent pre-assessments at the anaesthesiology outpatient clinic. Pain management nurses are trained to provide Acute Pain Services. This reallocation of duties presents a challenge to both the staff members assigned with new tasks and the anaesthesiologists: What constitutes a good study programme? Will the perioperative/periprocedural process become safer? Will the quality and efficiency of care be improved? To address the growing complexity of surgical procedures and comorbidity in an ageing patient population, Preckel will be focusing on preventing errors and increasing the effectiveness of the care process through protocol-based working methods and improved communication (structured handover process, crisis resource management).