How personalised care supports perioperative care

Blog by Dr Emma Hyde, Clinical Director - Personalised Care Institute

In December 2024, the Personalised Care Institute (PCI) published new research, involving more than 500 health and care professionals and 2,000 patients, which indicated that personalised care is being deprioritised at a time when it could play a pivotal role in tackling many of the NHS’s biggest challenges, including improving surgical outcomes and reducing post operative complications.

The findings, outlined in the PCI’s newly published report - A new Dawn for the NHS: a Manifesto for Putting Personalised Care at the Centre - include:

• Just over half of health and care professionals (55%) feel that personalised care is consistently practiced in their organisations.
• 45% of people report receiving treatment advice unsuitable for their individual needs in the past two years - rising to 64% among those with multiple health conditions.
• Almost one in five (19%) of those on waiting lists felt that with more choice and control over their decisions, they might not have ended up on the list at all.
• Among those who had had surgery, only 22% were given information about other options and 39% said they didn’t feel as involved in the decision as they would have liked.
• Among individuals who were recommended surgery, only half (50%) reported being asked if they fully understood the procedure, while even fewer (48%) felt fully informed about the potential risks or side effects associated with their surgery

For those working in perioperative care, I’m sure that many of these issues will resonate with you. How many times have you heard someone say that they aren’t sure why they are having a particular procedure or surgery? Or that they don’t feel prepared for their surgery? 

Lord Darzi, in his recent independent review of the NHS, highlighted various challenges facing the health service and was clear about the important role that personalised care will need to play in its future, saying:

“The best change empowers patients to take as much control of their care as possible.”

Using personalised care approaches is empowering and allows patients to take as much control of their care as they feel able to. Personalised care skills such as shared decision making, and teach back, ensure truly informed consent, where the person receiving care understands the choices available to them, and the risk and benefits of each option. Shared decision-making can also support people to prepare for surgery, by committing to increased physical activity, or a reduction in alcohol and tobacco use.  This preparation can play a significant role in improving surgical outcomes and reducing post operative complications. 

But embedding personalised care into practice is not easy - especially at-scale across organisations. To address this challenge, the Personalised Care Institute report calls for three key actions:

1. the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care to commit to developing a strategic plan to embed personalised care education throughout the health and care system, as part of the new NHS 10-Year Health Plan.
2. ring-fenced personalised care training budget for NHS Trusts, NHS Integrated Care Boards, and Primary Care Training Hubs, enabling them to support at-scale training programmes, and development opportunities for teams, departments and organisations.
3. embedding personalised care principles into all medical and healthcare professional curricular, so that future health and care workers understand and practice personalised care from the start of their careers. 

To support these actions, the Personalised Care Institute has launched a new practical learning resource. Transforming Health through Personalised Care: Strategies for ICBs, Trusts and PCNs will provide education leads and commissioners with the chance to learn from NHS teams who have been there and done it and from experts who have helped the NHS to embed personalised care at-scale. This free resource includes:

• A series of webinars sharing insights from NHS leaders who have successfully implemented personalised care training initiatives to tackle regional priorities, improve health outcomes, and enhance workforce development.
• A consultancy service offering tailored advice to regional teams.

If you’d like to find out more about how the Personalised Care Institute could support your team to embed personalised care in their perioperative practice, please contact us.