Job overview

The Perioperative Care Coordinator is a new and evolving clinical, organisational and administrative role which will become crucial in the delivery of perioperative care. This role has arisen because of NHS England’s new best practice guidelines for earlier screening, risk assessment and personalised health optimisation within perioperative pathways. As this is a new role within the Trust, you will have considerable autonomy to develop how the service functions, to best suit our local population. Throughout this process and beyond you will be supported by the Anaesthetic and Nurse-Leads for Preoperative Assessment

This post will include working closely with Admissions, preoperative assessment teams and Clinicians throughout the whole surgical pathway. You will identify patients requiring optimisation ahead of planned surgical intervention. Signpost to local services, support medical referral pathways, provide education about surgical pathways, maintain effective communication with all members of multidisciplinary team and serve as the primary point of contact for patients as they move through the surgical pathway.

The primary aim of the post is to improve the management of patients requiring preoperative optimisation making best use of the time patients are waiting for surgery.

Main duties of the job

●     Contact all patients newly listed for surgery early in the perioperative pathway. They will be responsible for the initial assessment and triage of each patient using a pre-screening questionnaire, to determine when, and what type of preoperative assessment is required.

●     Use this assessment to assist in determining what lifestyle modifications may be required to improve outcome. For instance, patients who smoke, with obesity, frailty or poor physical fitness.

●     Use this assessment to assist in determining what comorbidity optimisation may be required to improve outcome. For instance, patients with diabetes or anaemia.

●     Take Observations and perform investigation such as 12 -lead ECGs.

●     Develop and update a database of all health promotion services within the Torbay Hospital catchment area and use this to refer patients to the most appropriate local services. Examples include local yoga and fitness classes, walking groups, discounted gym memberships, weight loss support and smoking and alcohol cessation services.

●     Compile assessment information on a database and assist the perioperative medicine team to monitor progress throughout the perioperative pathway

●     Under the guidance of a registered health professional, arrange appropriate referrals and follow ups for patients with poorly controlled comorbidity and/or those identified as being at higher risk.

Working for our organisation

●     Where relevant, encourage patients to find out if their GP has a social prescribing link worker and/or health coach, and how they can refer themselves.

●     Ensure that when a referral for optimisation has been made, it has been received and acted upon by the receiving team and then continue to monitor their progress throughout this process.

●     Maintain a worklist of patients and check every 3 months whether they still wish to have surgery and that there have been no changes in their health; either using an automated service or by telephone.

●     Liaise with booking and scheduling, preoperative assessment and surgical teams, and keep them informed of where a patient is in their pathway, and when they will be optimised for surgery.

●     Contact patients after surgery and conduct a postoperative questionnaire with the aim of improving the service.

●     Provide the patients’ primary care provider with a summary of any lifestyle changes or comorbidity modifications that were made throughout the pathway, and how these will be maintained in the long-term.

●     Cross cover for your fellow preoperative coordinator when required, to provide an uninterrupted seamless service

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