This website is designed to offer all the information you need about the anaesthetic procedures and the doctors who will be looking after you. Select from the menu options above for more information.

Anaesthetic Preassessment

Anaesthetic preassessment blood pressure check It is important for all patients who are having an anaesthetic for surgery to have some form of preassessment after a booking is made.

Initially this may take the form of a simple health questionnaire which will be given to you by the private hospital. If you have no significant health issues and/or you are having minor surgery, this may be all you will require.

In most cases preassessment clinic nursing staff will see you in person and take a full medical, nursing, medication and social history.

You will have routine observations made which include blood pressure, pulse, temperature, height and weight/body mass index (BMI).

Pre-operative Tests

After the assessment you may require further tests, which include...

An electrocardiogram (ECG) – which records the electrical activity of your heart
Blood tests
Urine test
X-rays

Referral to an Anaesthetist

Preassessment for anaesthetic procedure If you are having major surgery or if you have medical problems, you may be asked to see an anaesthetist in the preassessment clinic as part of your appointment. This is designed to assess your fitness for surgery, make sure your medical conditions are being optimally managed and discuss the options available for your anaesthetic.

Your anaesthetist may sometimes wish to organise additional tests, such as an echocardiogram, which is a type of ultrasound scan assessing the function of the heart.

It may sometimes be necessary to make a referral to another medical specialist, such as a cardiologist, for an opinion on your management.

Abnormal test results, depending on their nature, may require further investigations or a simple repeat of the original test. On occasion it may be necessary to recommend that surgery is deferred, or that you are looked after in a high dependency or intensive care unit following your surgery.

Anaesthetic Preassessment Fees

If you have an appointment to see an anaesthetist in the preassessment clinic, this will incur a charge additional to your anaesthetic fee for the surgery itself. If you have private medical insurance, you are recommended to check with your provider beforehand to see if you are covered. In most cases, insurers will cover this fee. If you are a self-paying patient, the cost may be included in the fee charged by the private hospital.

Links

Gloucestershire Anaesthetic Services supports and adheres to the recommendations made on routine pre-operative testing made by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)
https://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG3NICEguideline.pdf

We also endorse the guidance document published by The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland Pre-operative Assessment : The Role of the Anaesthetist
https://www.aagbi.org/publications/guidelines/docs/preoperativeass01.pdf