We see patients who will be having a planned operation or procedure at Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington Hospital or Queen Mary’s Hospital. We assess your fitness for surgery and provide the information you need to help you prepare for your operation or procedure.

Synopsis at Home Health Questionnaire

If you are referred to us, we may send you a text message, email, or letter with an electronic health questionnaire for you to complete. This must be completed for you to be given a date for your surgery and will take approximately 10 minutes. If you do not need a general anaesthetic, you may not need to complete the questionnaire.

You will be asked to sign up using your email address, where you will be given a verification code. If you are unable to complete the questionnaire within this time, please contact the surgical pre-assessment team using the contact details below.

Once you have completed the questionnaire, you will get an auto-generated email to confirm the submission.

You will be able to complete the questionnaire on a PC, tablet or smartphone. We suggest you use Safari, Microsoft Edge, Firefox or Chrome as your browser. The questions are mainly to be answered ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ with some minimal free text.

For medications or previous surgery please use the drop-down function to add your information. It is important to include as much information as possible. You can add as many lines as needed.

When you have completed the questionnaire, click on the green ‘Submit’ button at the very bottom of the page.

If you need to make changes after you have submitted the questionnaire, you can unsubmit the document by clicking the ‘Submit’ button again and following the instructions. Please remember to submit the document again once you have made your changes.

After you complete and submit your health questionnaire it will be reviewed by a nurse in due course. You may be contacted for further information, or to attend a surgical pre-assessment appointment.

If you have any queries or are unable to complete the form, call us on 01689 866 355.

Before your appointment

• Check your appointment letter to see what you need to prepare for your appointment.
• Have a list of any current medications you take
• If you need to change or cancel your appointment, or you have any questions, phone Admissions on the phone number on your letter.

If you do not attend your pre-operative assessment, it may delay your operation date.

Telephone appointments

If your appointment is by phone:

• make sure you are in an appropriate place for discussing your medical history
• you will receive a text before your appointment with the timeframe for the call. As we can’t predict how long each call will take, your appointment may be up to one hour earlier or later
• one of our nurses will call you. There may be no caller ID
• it is possible your phone assessment will show you need to come into hospital for a routine test or a face-to-face assessment. If this happens, the nurse will arrange this for you during the phone call.

Face-to-face appointments

If your appointment is face-to-face at Orpington Hospital:

• your visit may include having tests, so please be prepared to spend up to two hours at your appointment
• we make every effort to ensure that patients are seen at their appointment time, however this is not always possible, as it is difficult to predict how long each patient will need
• if you have more complex medical conditions, you may be referred for an anaesthetic review. Your medical notes will be reviewed by an anaesthetist. Normally, you will not need another appointment for this. But if the anaesthetist needs more information, they will arrange a phone or face-to-face appointment with you
• if you are not currently fit for surgery, you may be referred back to your GP

Information on preparing for surgery

Pre-operative guidance and preparing for your surgery – PRUH – our leaflet about preparing for surgery

NHS website – Preparing for Surgery

Royal College of Anaesthetists website

Preparing for Surgery – Fitter Better Sooner – by the Royal College of Anaethetists

Location

Surgical pre-operative assessment clinic
Ground Floor, Pre-assessment clinic
Orpington Hospital
Sevenoaks Road
Orpington
Kent
BR6 9JU

See our Getting to Orpington Hospital page for travel information.

Pre-operative assessment clinics are clearly signposted from the main entrance.

Contact details

POA admin

Tel: 01689 866 355

Frequently asked questions

I have a question about my surgery, who do I speak to?

Your surgeon will be able to answer specific questions about your surgery. Please call your surgeon’s secretary.

How long will my recovery be?

Your surgeon will be able to answer questions about your recovery after surgery.

I’ve had my pre-operative assessment (POA), when will my surgery be?

Your POA can last up to 12 weeks and in some cases more. Please do not worry if you have had your POA and have not been contacted within this time. If your POA shows you are suitable for treatment you will be added to the waiting list for surgery and should be offered a surgery date within 12 weeks.

What happens if my surgery is postponed?

You may be asked to come back for a blood test or an MRSA test if your surgery is postponed. You will be contacted by the admissions team.

My clinical circumstances or health has changed, who do I contact?

If you are unsure if you are still able to go ahead with your surgery, please contact our admissions team on 01689 866 355.

I’ve changed my mind about surgery, who do I contact?

If you have changed your mind about having surgery, please contact our admissions team and let them know on 01689 866 355.

I’ve had my operation privately, who do I contact?

If you have had your surgery somewhere else, please contact our admissions team and let them know on 01689 866 355.

I’ve changed my contact details, who do I tell?

If your contact details have changed, please inform our admissions team as soon as possible on 01689 866 355.

I’m a smoker, will this affect my surgery?

It is important you tell admissions and your pre-operative assessment nurse that you smoke. Smoking may affect your surgery. Smoking greatly increases the risk of complications during and after surgery. You can reduce this risk if you stop smoking as soon as possible before your operation. Evidence shows smokers who quit approximately 4 weeks or more before surgery have a lower risk of complications and better results 6 months afterwards. For more information, please see our Smoke-free King’s page.

I have another chronic condition, will this affect my surgery?

If you have a chronic condition (a long-lasting condition, which may get worse over time) such as diabetes, it is important you tell your pre-operative assessment nurse and surgeon. They will be able to give you information on risks and considerations associated with these conditions and surgery.

I need a translator, who do I ask?

If you need a translator at any of your POA appointments or phone calls, please contact admissions on 01689 866 355.

I need help getting to my clinic, how can I request patient transport?

For details of patient transport go to our Help with travel page.