At your convenience: preoperative assessment by telephone.

This article describes how practitioners in one trust have worked in partnership with colleagues at NHS Direct to develop a telephone preoperative assessment service for elective day case surgery patients. The service has improved theatre utilisation by reducing the numbers of 'did not attends' (DNAs) and ensures the safe preparation of appropriately selected patients for day case surgery. It has reduced the number of trips to hospital patients need to make and, more recently, the length of time spent there.