SPECIALTIES
Perioperative medicine
With continual advances in medicine and technology, surgeries that were once deemed too high risk are now being performed on increasingly complex and multi-morbid patients. This change in practice puts an added burden on the health care system with higher rates of perioperative complications, longer lengths of hospital stay and increased admissions to high acuity wards.
Here at Westmead Hospital we see approximately 1400 high risk patients a year. The Perioperative Medicine Team and the High Risk Clinic was formed in 2016 to fulfil the needs of this high risk population. It provides multidisciplinary assessment, preoperative optimisation and uses a shared decision making model to aid in the prevention of non-beneficial surgeries.
Extended assessment of patients includes a pre-consult work up, multidisciplinary team assessment and input, frailty and nutritional assessment, risk stratification including CPET if indicated, as well as a post-operative follow up by consultant anaesthetists.
Our aim is to improve the perioperative care and outcome of high risk patients by improving communication, collaboration and continuity of care.
07 Sep 2018