What is Perioperative Care?
Perioperative care simply means the care you receive before, during and after your operation. It covers your whole journey—from your first visit to your GP, through your surgery, and right up to your recovery at home.
According to the Centre for Perioperative Care:
‘Perioperative care is about tracking your journey as a patient from the moment you are considered for referral for treatment from your GP to recovery, to an operation/treatment and being discharged back home.
Following your journey as a patient means that teams of professionals can make sure you are as fit as possible for surgery and manage any other conditions you may have to ensure that after your operation/treatment you can recover as quickly as possible, reduce the risks of having complications that mean you would need to stay in hospital longer, reduce your quality of life and delay returning home to daily life.
From the start of the journey, you should be involved in decisions about your care. You have a choice about what treatment is right for you based on your individual circumstances and what is important to you. Up to 14% of patients express regret going ahead with surgery so it is very important you are sure this is the treatment option you would like to pursue.’
Why is perioperative care important to you as patient?
The Royal colleague of Anaesthetist – ‘Good perioperative care should improve patient experience of care, including quality of and satisfaction with care and improve health of populations, including returning to home/work and quality of life. It should also reduce the per capita cost of health care through improving value.’ https://www.rcoa.ac.uk/about-us/strategy-vision/perioperative-care
Who is the Perioperative Team?
During your journey, you’ll meet lots of different healthcare professionals. They may be based in different teams or even different hospitals, but perioperative care helps everyone work together so your care feels joined up, runs smoothly and you get the best care possible.
The Perioperative Team includes:
- Nurses
- Physiotherapists
- Occupational therapists
- Dietitians
- Anaesthetists
- Surgeons
- Ward doctors
- GPs
- Elderly Care Physicians
- Pharmacists
- Preoperative Assessment Staff
- Theatre Teams
- Operating Department Practitioners
- Peri operative care coordinating team
But most importantly it includes you and your family / friends.
