Professor Smith's work on risk and safety within the context of anaesthesia has an international reputation.More recently his focus has broadened, reflected in the 2007 personal patient safety research development award from the DH which established this Unit. As a practising consultant anaesthetist, he is well aware of the gap between knowledge and practice in both quality and safety of care in the NHS.

He has been co-applicant and collaborator on many funded projects with researchers from Lancaster University in the departments of Sociology, Computing and Physics as well as the Institute for Health Research, where he held an Honorary Chair from 2005 to 2008. He is now Honorary Professor of Clinical Anaesthesia in the new Faculty of Health and Medicine. He was awarded the George Arnott Professorship by the UK Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2004.

Nationally, Andrew Smith has long-standing connections with NHS knowledge networks such as Connecting for Health and NHS Evidence (formerly National Library for Health). He is also an editor in the Cochrane Anaesthesia Review Group, based in Copenhagen, a member of the joint National Patient Safety Agency/Royal College of Anaesthetists' 'Safe Anaesthesia Liaison Group' and Chair of the Guidelines Committee of the European Society of Anaesthesiology. He was also involved in the production and launch of the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology, a Europe-wide initiative to improve the safety of patient care.

His research interests centre on professional knowledge, evidence in practice, communication, risk and safety, focusing especially on anaesthesia and the perioperative period.

Recent grants include the following:

Smith AF, Alderson P, Tancock J, Hinder S, Harding S, Joshi A. Enhancing the safety, quality and productivity of perioperative care (Cochrane programme grant). UK National Institute for Health Research, £417 211, 2010-3. For a programme of reviews in this clinical field.

BRACCIA: Brain, respiratory and cardiac causalities in anaesthesia (with McClintock P, Stefanovska A and others) European Union, 2005-9, € 1.4 million. European collaboration of physicists and anaesthetists examining synchronisation of biological signals under anaesthesia.

An exploration of bedside checking processes for inpatients in the acute care setting (with Smith D, Kane M). Patient Safety Research Programme, £63 000, 2006-7

Recent publications include:

Cyna A, Tan S, Andrew M, Smith AF (eds). Communication Skills for Anaesthetists. Oxford University Press, 2011

Werner C, Smith AF, van Aken H. Guidelines on non-anaesthesiologist administration of propofol for gastrointestinal endoscopy – a double-edged sword (editorial)  European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2011; 28: 553-5.

Smith AF, Pelosi P. Collaboration, simplicity and transparency (CoSiTra): the European Society of Anaesthesiology’s guidelines initiative (editorial) . European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2011; 28: 231-4.

Campbell G, Smith AF. Health services research: what is it and what has it done for anaesthesia and critical care? (editorial) . European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2011; 28: 547-9.

Arfanis K, Smith AF. Informal risk assessment strategies in health care staff: an unrecognized source of resilience? Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 2011 (online publication 13 September 2011). DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01759.x

Arfanis K, Smith AF. Healthcare professionals’ understanding of patient safety: relevance to the development of person-centered medicine. International Journal of Person Centred Medicine 2011; 1: 475-81.

Smith I, Kranke P, Murat I, Smith AF, O’Sullivan G, Søreide E, Spies C, in’t Veld B. Perioperative Fasting in Adults and Children: Guidelines from the European Society of Anaesthesiology.  European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2011; 28: 556-69.

De Hert S, Imberger G, Carlisle J, Diemunsch P, Fritsch G, Moppett I, Solca M, Ständer S, Wappler F, Smith AF. Guidelines for preoperative evaluation of the adult non-cardiac surgery patient; The Task Force on Preoperative Evaluation of the Adult Patient of the European Society of Anaesthesiology. European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2011; 28: 684-722.

Cassidy CJ, Smith AF, Arnot-Smith J.  Critical incident reports concerning anaesthetic equipment: analysis of the UK National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) data from 2006-8. Anaesthesia 2011; 66: 879-888.

Smith AF, Casey K, Wilson J, Fischbacher-Smith D. Wristbands as aids to reduce misidentification: an ethnographically-guided task analysis. International Journal for Quality in Health Care ; 23: 590-99.  doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzr045

Whitaker DW, Brattebø G, Smith AF, Ständer S. The Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology: putting words into practice. Best Practice and Research Clinical Anaesthesiology 2011; 25: 277-90.

Arfanis K, Fioratou E, Smith AF. Safety culture in anaesthesiology: basic concepts and practical application. Best Practice and Research Clinical Anaesthesiology 2011; 25: 229-38.

Shillito J, Arfanis K, Smith AF. Risking safety or safely risking? Healthcare professionals’ understanding of risk-taking in everyday work. Health, Psychology and Medicine 2011; 16: 66-73.

Smith AF, Glavin R, Greaves D. Defining excellence in anaesthesia: the role of personal qualities and practice environment. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2011; 106: 38-43.

Maclennan A, Smith AF. An analysis of critical incidents relevant to paediatric anaesthesia reported to the UK National Reporting and Learning System, 2006-2008. Pediatric Anesthesia 2011;  21: 841-7.

Mellin-Olsen J, Ständer S, Whitaker DK, Smith AF. The Helsinki declaration for patient safety in anaesthesiology. European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2010; 27: 592-7

Shillito J, Arfanis K, Smith AF. Checking in healthcare safety: theoretical basis and practical application. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance 2010;  23: 699-707.

Arnot-Smith J, Smith AF. Patient safety incidents involving neuromuscular blockade: analysis of the UK National Reporting and Learning System data from 2006 to 2008. Anaesthesia 2010;  65: 1106-13.

Smith AF. Monitoring of neuromuscular blockade in general anaesthesia. Lancet 2010; 376: 77-9.

Smith AF, Mishra K. Interaction between anaesthetists, their patients and the anaesthesia team. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2010; 105: 60-68.

Smith AF, Greaves JD. Beyond competence: defining and promoting excellence in anaesthesia. Anaesthesia 2010; 65: 184-91.

Smith AF, Boult M, Woods I, Johnson S. Promoting patient safety through prospective risk identification: example from perioperative care. Quality and Safety in Health Care 2010; 19: 69-73.

Smith AF, Mahajan RP. National critical incident reporting: improving patient safety (editorial). British Journal of Anaesthesia 2009; 103: 623-5.

Smith AF, Pope C, Goodwin D, Mort M. Interprofessional handover and patient safety in anaesthesia: observational study of handovers in the recovery room. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2008

Smith AF, Goodwin D, Mort M, Pope C. Adverse events in anaesthetic practice: qualitative study of definition, discussion and reporting British Journal of Anaesthesia 2006; 96: 715-21.