Abstract
Abstract Aim Annually 9.9 million people undergo elective surgery in the NHS. The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidelines on ‘Routine pre-operative tests in elective surgery’ in 2016. It aimed to reduce unnecessary testing by taking into account patient comorbidities and the complexity of surgery. Excessive testing can cause significant anxiety in patients, delays in treatment and exposure to COVID caused by unnecessary hospital visits. Additionally, unnecessary blood tests can exacerbate blood bottle shortages. We are auditing the compliance of NICE guidelines when requesting blood tests for elective general surgical patients in pre-operative assessment clinics at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) Method The audit team at NGH provided details of the first 64 patients undergoing elective general surgery (categorised into 22 Minor, 23 Intermediate, 19 Major procedures), from May to July 2021. Electronic records were used to determine patient ASA grades and blood tests requested at pre-operative assessment clinics. These were checked against NICE (2016) guidelines. Results Conclusion There is poor compliance with NICE guidelines. NGH Anaesthetic team have implemented changes in November 2021, as part of MyPreOP online app, to ensure these guidelines are followed. We will re-audit in February 2022 and consider implementing changes across all surgical specialties.
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