CPOC response to the 10-Year Health Plan consultation

Today the Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) has responded to the government’s, Change NHS consultation on its planned 10-Year Health Plan for England. 

The consultation seeks public and professional input on how we can build a health service fit for the future, after Lord Darzi’s independent investigation concluded that ‘the NHS is in a critical condition’.  

CPOC’s response highlights the critical role of perioperative care in enhancing the productivity of the NHS and improving patient outcomes. By optimising the surgical pathway from the moment surgery is contemplated all the way until full recovery, perioperative interventions reduce cancellations, complications, lengthy hospital stays, and readmissions, while empowering patients in decisions abouts their healthcare. 

To achieve this, CPOC recommends that the 10-Year Health Plan include the following: 

• NHS England to mandate, encourage, and facilitate the adoption of surgical pathway efficiencies.  

• Develop a national joined up perioperative care workforce strategy using the Centre for Perioperative Care’s knowledge, skills and experience as a multi-professional organisation to help facilitate this.  

• Provide new funding for interventions to optimise the surgical pathway, such as prehabilitation schemes, comprehensive geriatric assessment, better discharge planning, shared decision making, and enhanced recovery programmes.  

• Ensure that health regulators, such as the Care Quality Commission, include efficiencies practices (such as prehabilitation) and outcomes (such as cancellations) in their assessment frameworks.  

• The collection, sharing, and analysis of data to measure improvement, boost efficiencies and promote better patient outcomes. 

CPOC’s response also describes how perioperative interventions can support the Government’s three shifts from hospitals to communities, analogue to digital, and prevention to sickness.