To mark the launch of the toolkit, The Preoperative Association will host a free online webinar introducing the resource and exploring how it can be used in practice.

The session will be chaired by Anjna Patel, Sarah Tinsley and Claire Frank and is open to everyone with an interest in pharmacy, preoperative assessment and perioperative care.

Anjna Patel

Principal Pharmacist Pre-assessment, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust

Sarah Tinsley

Lead Pharmacist Surgery Division, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

Claire Frank

Lead Preoperative Assessment Pharmacist, Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Who should attend?

This webinar is suitable for:

• Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians
• Preoperative assessment teams
• Anaesthetists and perioperative clinicians
• Nurses and allied healthcare professionals
• Service leads and managers
• Teams developing or reviewing POA pathways
• Anyone interested in medicines optimisation before surgery

Register for the webinar

Join us for the official launch and learn how this new toolkit can help support safer, more effective and more consistent pharmacy involvement in preoperative assessment.

A practical toolkit for pharmacy & preoperative assessment teams

The Preoperative Association, in collaboration with CPOC and UKCPA, is pleased to launch a new practical toolkit to support the development of pharmacy roles within preoperative assessment services.

Preoperative assessment plays a vital role in preparing patients safely for elective surgery. As patient complexity, multimorbidity and polypharmacy increase, the need for specialist pharmacy input in POA is becoming increasingly important.

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians bring essential expertise in medicines optimisation, perioperative medication planning, risk mitigation and the management of long-term conditions. Their involvement can support safer decision-making, reduce avoidable medicine-related cancellations, improve patient experience and strengthen the efficiency of the surgical pathway.

About the toolkit

Developing Pharmacy Roles in Preoperative Assessment: A Practical Toolkit has been created to help organisations design, strengthen and standardise pharmacy services within POA.

The toolkit brings together practical guidance, national context and real-world examples to support services at different stages of development — from teams exploring pharmacy involvement for the first time, to established services looking to expand, evidence value or refine their model.

What the toolkit covers

The toolkit includes guidance on:

• The value of pharmacy workforce involvement in POA
• Different pharmacy service models
• Workforce and skill mix
• Example pharmacist and pharmacy technician roles
• Business case development
• Key Performance Indicators
• Education and training for the POA pharmacy workforce
• Research involvement and service improvement
• Best-practice examples from established POA pharmacy services