Dr Ross Kerridge

Ross Kerridge is Senior Staff Specialist Anaesthetist Clinician at the John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, Australia and Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle.

As an anaesthetist, Dr Kerridge has had a long-standing interest in the clinical, organisational and system issues of perioperative patient management. From 1989, Dr Kerridge led the establishment of the "Perioperative System" model of care for elective surgery, which is now the generally accepted model of elective surgical patient care in Australia, and has been adapted internationally. He has spoken at numerous conferences and meetings, but feels there is no substitute for seeing what really happens 'on the ground'. He has visited and advised over a hundred hospitals and health services in fifteen countries.

Dr Kerridge has had wide involvement in a variety of other projects involving reorganisation and re-engineering of health service delivery, including establishment of the first 'Medical Emergency Team' (1990), and the Australian Resource Centre for Healthcare Innovation, (www.archi.net.au) in 1998.

Early in his specialist career, he worked with the 'Careflight' Helicopter Medical Retrieval Service. After an accident during this work he sustained multiple life-threatening injuries, and spent six months in hospital. This experience gave him unique insights into the patient's experience of hospitals and health services, and increased his commitment to improving the health system.

He is a proud Novocastrian (citizen of Newcastle), and enjoys history of all types, biographies, and colourful ties.