The benefits of a nurse-led preoperative assessment clinic.

OPAC has proved itself a valuable service, not only to patients but also in ensuring the efficient management of these patients' care throughout their contact with the hospital. It has been shown that a registered nurse is able to use this service as a means of identifying a variety of problems that can affect patient admission and use this foresight to alleviate patient concerns, plan to enable early discharge and minimise lost and disrupted theatre times. This post has since become a regular provision within the orthopaedic service, funded by the trust, and is a routine service provided to all orthopaedic patients due to undergo elective orthopaedic surgery. In addition, the clinic monitors waiting lists and removes those patients who no longer require or wish to have surgery. Quality care is provided promptly and efficiently on a one-to-one basis and patients experience minimum disruption due to the centralisation of clinic services. Nurse-led clinics appear more cost-effective as they employ a senior nurse instead of a consultant or anaesthetist and this is achieved without losing the quality of patient care. In the new, modern and dependable NHS, nurse-led clinics are the way forward.