Surgery

Transcript

Surgery is a diverse area, and one which can be quite unfamiliar for many pharmacy professionals. At first glance it might appear to be daunting – with confusing terminology and procedures with complex names. Even without knowing the intricate details of surgical procedures, pharmacy professionals can still make a valuable contribution to the care of surgical patients.

There are many aspects of surgery that benefit from pharmacy input. These include antibiotic prophylaxis choices, appropriate management of VTE risk and choices of fluids, as well as making appropriate recommendations for the management of medicines around the time of surgery.

While this area may seem more relevant to pharmacy teams working in acute settings, pharmacy teams working in primary care will still speak to patients before or after surgery, and can offer valuable advice about their medicines.

Completing the learning and assessment on this topic will provide you with the knowledge and confidence you need to speak to patients about their medicines before and after surgery, and make suitable recommendations to improve patient safety.

UKCPA masterclass events

Educational resources to improve practice in diagnosis and reporting of surgical site infections (SSIs) and to aid understanding of the implications of a SSI on the patient.

Prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections - everything the National Institute for Heath and Care Exellence (NICE) says in an interactive flowchart.

This guideline covers safe and effective use of medicines in health and social care for people taking 1 or more medicines. It aims to ensure that medicines provide the greatest possible benefit to people by encouraging medicines reconciliation, medication review, and the use of patient decision aids.

This guideline covers routine preoperative tests for people aged over 16 who are having elective surgery. It aims to reduce unnecessary testing by advising which tests to offer people before minor, intermediate and major or complex surgery, taking into account specific comorbidities (cardiovascular, renal and respiratory conditions and diabetes and obesity). It does not cover pregnant women or people having cardiothoracic procedures or neurosurgery.

A national programme for the future delivery of perioperative medicine. This learning programme encompasses the principles of enhanced recovery that we know can deliver better patient experience as well as a more efficient elective care pathway and can lead to the delivery of the best possible quality of care for patients.