Part of the popular Core Topics series, this book provides a practical guide to pre-operative assessment for consultants and trainee anaesthetists. Chapters cover comprehensive evidence-based guidance for assessing and managing patients with particular conditions, as well as perioperative risk stratification and challenges of pre-assessment. The chapters have been written by specialists in the respective clinical fields, while all content has been edited by anaesthetists to assure it is relevant and accessible to the anaesthetist in the everyday pre-operative clinic. Written specifically for anaesthetists, this resource will allow every reader to contribute effectively in a multidisciplinary approach when assessing and risk stratifying patients to ensure that they are optimised before surgery.

Success in improving performance requires the right mix of focus on people, process, and technology. This book emphasizes the central role of people in this respect. The book reminds us that this idea is not new - but it's an important one that merits reinforcement. There are some other ideas in this book that are also not new, yet are seldom practiced. These include; viewing the business from the "outside-in" or the customer's point of view, remembering that the single most important objective of process improvement and management is to improve organizational performance, and that the central role of technology is to enable operational performance.