Dr Alan Ashworth

Dr Ashworth has been a substantive Consultant in Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine since 2012. He is the Clinical Director for Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) since April 2025.  Dr Ashworth leads one of the largest Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Critical Care Units in the country with 31 critical care beds.  MFT is one of 5 nationally commissioned Heart and Lung transplant centres and one of 6 nationally commissioned respiratory Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) centres specialising in all forms of mechanical circulatory support for acute severe heart and respiratory failure. Dr Ashworth was Deputy Clinical Director and Quality and Patient Safety lead for the Cardiothoracic Critical Care at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust from February 2023 to April 2025. He was Deputy ECMO Director from 2016 to 2022 and has led the development and implementation of an Extracorporeal CPR Programme from 2017 to 2021.

Dr Ashworth has a special interest in cardiothoracic anaesthesia, anaesthesia for heart and lung transplantation, general and regional anaesthesia, and intensive care medicine. He has a particular clinical interest in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), mechanical circulatory support (MCS) and transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE).

Dr Ashworth has over 50 peer-reviewed publications on topics including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), mechanical circulatory support (MCS), and transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE).

Dr Ashworth is frequently invited to give national and international lectures on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and mechanical circulatory support (MCS). Dr Ashworth has also delivered lectures on the safe introduction of surgical innovation into the NHS.

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Dr Ashworth is the Consultant Clinical Advisor in the Interventional Procedures Programme for National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) promoting safe innovation within the NHS. He also has experience as a Consultant Clinical Advisor for the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations Programme. In addition, Dr Ashworth is the Clinical Director of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Critical Care.

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