THOUSANDS of patients will benefit from slicker checks before they undergo surgery at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Patients scheduled for vascular, breast or general surgery are now being offered their pre-operative assessments on the same day as their first outpatient appointment.

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Previously, the majority of patients had their ‘pre-op’ right up to day before being admitted to hospital, often weeks after their first appointment.

Natalie Brockie, divisional general manager for surgery and anaesthetics, said: “Our new pre-op assessment improves the patient experience by streamlining the route from consultation to surgery. An earlier pre-op assessment can identify problems sooner and, in some cases, enable the patient or hospital staff to take action to ensure the surgery goes ahead as planned.”

The new system is also expected to reduce operations being cancelled for medical reasons.

Mrs Brockie added: “It helps patients by reducing the potential number of hospital appointments and making sure the patient is at optimal health for their surgery.

“Cancelled operations are a waste of NHS resources and are distressing and inconvenient for patients.”

The new system follows a successful pilot project for orthopaedic surgery.

More than 1,000 operations were cancelled by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in 2013/14, an increase of nearly 30 per cent on the previous year.

The number of operations rose by six per cent over the same period, from 35,896 to 38,194.

This meant meant the proportion cancelled by the trust increased from 2.19 to 2.64 per cent.

Cancellations usually occurred when patients were unfit to undergo surgery, or due to staff dealing with emergency patients.

Around a fifth were cancelled because of a lack of surgical equipment, or faulty equipment.