Why being fit for surgery is important

So what we've been learning in recent years, as doctors we like to think it's really what we do during the operation that makes the biggest difference to the patient's outcome. The reality is that the quality of medicine in the United Kingdom is so high that that doesn't make the primary difference to the patient's outcome, it's the patient that makes the difference to the patient outcome. and there's an increasing understanding that the patient is fit for surgery, literally fit for surgery, then it makes a difference as to what that outcome is going to be. And therefore we look to patients and we ask them to be in the best possible condition for the operation. If they're able to exercise more and it's safe for them to do so, they should exercise more. If they're able to lose weight and it's safe for them to do so, they should lose more weight if they're overweight. If they smoke, they should stop. If they drink excess alcohol, they should stop doing that. Those things probably make a much bigger difference to the outcome after the operation than what drug I use and these tissues use during the operation. Patients need to work with their GPs, work with their surgeons to maximize their pre-operative of fitness and that's the thing that will make the biggest difference to our outcome.