Challenge of individualised risk assessment in a tertiary hospital

Abstract

Background: Individualised risk assessment is vital to inform shared decision-making and to enable appropriate perioperative care.1 Our 2018–19 Perioperative Quality Improvement Project (PQIP) site report highlighted only 54.5% of patients at our hospital were being appropriately risk assessed in preoperative assessment clinics (POACs), lower than the national average of 65%.2 We conducted a local audit in 2020 and our data agreed with the findings of the report. After this we developed teaching sessions to aid pre-assessment nurses with risk stratification.