Perioperative Medicine in Action

Make a difference: Improve patient outcomes with perioperative medicine

Too many patients die or suffer prolonged complications following surgery.

Perioperative medicine is an emerging, multi-disciplinary approach which seeks to optimise the care of high-risk surgical patients. It encompasses disciplines such as anaesthetics, surgery, nursing, elderly care, physiotherapy and healthcare management.

In this RCoA-endorsed course, developed by anaesthetists at University College London (UCL) Hospitals, you’ll learn the key concepts you need to improve patient safety and reduce healthcare costs.

This RCoA endorsed course is aimed at all interested healthcare professionals, both medical and allied health professionals. This would include anaesthetists, surgeons, care-of-the-elderly physicians, pre-assessment nurses, surgical ward nurses, operating department staff, physiotherapists and medical managers, emphasising that enhanced care and improved outcomes depend on a multidisciplinary approach.

Healthcare professionals might find the the Certificate of Achievement for this course useful for providing evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), or commitment to their career.

Although some of the statistics and guidelines are UK specific, the key concepts and learning aims are relevant at an international level.

• The Surgical Epidemic
• Introduction
• Traditional models of care
• The need for change
• Perioperative medicine as a concept
• Decision Making and Risk Assessment
• Introduction
• Patients at the centre of their decisions
• Risk assessment
• Outcome Measures
• Digital Transformation
• Protocolised Care Pathways
• Introduction
• Elective care protocols
• Prehabilitation
• Engaging with protocols
• Emergency care protocols
• An Age Old Problem
• Introduction
• The unique health care problems of the elderly
• Improving perioperative care for the elderly
• Perioperative Medicine and NAP 7
• The current economic climate
• Final thoughts