FAQs

Patients are referred to pre-op assessment by their surgical team.

Patients are referred to pre-op assessment to be reviewed by Pre-op Assessment nurses and anaesthetists before surgery, to assess their current health and suitability for undergoing anaesthesia, and to assess whether there are ways of optimising their health before surgery to make them as prepared as possible for surgery.

Additionally, it provides an opportunity for the anaesthetists to discuss the process of undergoing anaesthesia with the patients and answer any queries. The aim is to improve our patient’s experience and outcomes and to reduce surgical cancellations.

Patients are assessed by both a Pre-Op Assessment nurse and an anaesthetist.

This will involve:

• Questions about your past medical and surgical history
• Medical exam
• Height and weight measurement;
• Blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature measurement.
• Blood tests
• ECG

You do not have to fast for the blood tests taken in the Pre-Op Assessment clinic.

Please bring a list of your current medications with you. You will be asked about many aspects of your health and your past medical history, so it may be helpful to write down any previous or ongoing medical issues and any previous surgeries.

You may be given instructions about changes to your medications around the time of your operation. These will be discussed with you in the clinic and you will also be given written instructions about any changes.

After being seen in the clinic the anaesthetist might book you for further tests such as Pulmonary Function Tests which test your breathing, or Echocardiogram which is an  ultrasound scan of your heart. Additionally, you may be referred to other specialists if any issues arise that require further expert advice. The reason for this is to make sure that there are no problems with your health that need to be addressed before surgery.