Dr Slater was educated at Manchester Grammar School and studied medicine at St Andrews University and Manchester Medical School. He qualified in 1979 and gained the membership of the Royal College of Physicians before training in anaesthesia in the North West.

Dr Slater spent 12 months as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, USA.

He was appointed as Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive care in 1989.