What do I need to prepare for pre-operative assessment clinic?

When you attend pre-operative assessment clinic and see a pre-operative assessment nurse, you will be asked specific questions about your medical history, what medication you take, it's really important you bring that list with you, how long you've been taking those medications for, whether you've had a general anaesthetic in the past, any past family history that may be of importance in terms of your medical history and medical journey through the hospital. You will be asked a little bit about your social history, so how much you drink if you do drink alcohol, if you've been a smoker, if you're a current smoker or smoked in the past, if they have any other kind of support needs within your health. So disabilities like requiring a walking stick where you're independent of your being able to do things on a daily basis and with your daily activities like can you walk to the shops, how many flights of stairs can you climb before you become short of breath. And you will be asked specific questions about each of your body systems. So we ask specific questions about your cardiology, your cardiovascular system, things to do with your heart. We ask specific questions about your lungs if you're taking medication and have ever had any lung disease diagnosed. Same about your kidneys, your neurological system which includes your brain and your spinal cord and any problems associated with your bowels or your gut and digestive systems. These all help us assess what's appropriately needed for you. Other questions that are asked by other specialists within pre-operative assessment are those asked by the anaesthetist. Have you ever had a general anaesthetic before? Has anybody in your family history ever had a problem with a general anaesthetic? Any anaesthetics that you may have received, whether they are general, regional, which are things like spinals or epidurals, or under local anaesthetic blocks which just numb off the area associated with the surgery and this again helps us understand your understanding what you may be undergoing and lets us explain in greater detail what your needs may be during this operative journey. We will also discuss quickly with you, comprehensively with you rather, what you will undergo during surgery and particularly under anesthesia, explaining to you what your risks and complications are, what our concerns may be and hopefully having time to answer any questions that you may have about the anaesthetic, the surgery and your journey in hospital during the intraoperative period.