ABSTRACT
It is ironic that, at a time when anaesthesia and surgery have become safer and more successful than ever before, a considerable number of patients remain very fearful. This is, in part, the result of an unbalanced media preoccupation with anaesthetic disasters which has etched a distorted image of the likely risks in the minds of patients. It is worth remembering that no human activity is without risk and that anaesthesia for the vast majority of patients is extremely safe. It is the duty of all concerned with patient care to ensure that surgery and anaesthesia are carried out by suitably experienced doctors under optimum conditions.
