What is prehabilitation?

Prehabilitation is about getting ready for your surgery or treatments before they start. It is built around three main parts of your health:

physical activity and exercise
diet and weight control
mental wellbeing.

At UHS we have been performing leading research into the impacts of prehabilitation in patients. This meant in 2023 we were able to create a fully funded prehabilitation service for patients.

Our prehabilitation service is split into four stages:

Screening: We will ask you questions around your general health as you are today. To do this you will receive a questionnaire online to complete (through My Medical Record). If you are unable to complete this you can contact our team for support.

Assessment: Your questionnaire will be reviewed by a member of the perioperative care team and they will call you to go through further details. If required, you may be referred for further assessments by a dietitian, psychologist or our exercise team.

Intervention: A personalised plan will be made to support you in different areas of your health and optimise you for surgery. This will include a gym membership or a personal exercise plan that best meets your needs.

Follow-up: As part of your prehabilitation we will give you contact details to get in touch with the team and will continue to monitor your progress as needed. If things change with your health then we can change the plans to match this.

What can we offer you?

All patients receive:

An invitation to surgery school
Access to the myOp application
Healthy living advice

Targeted exercise

Our clinical exercise physiologists will assess your fitness and work with you on a personalised plan to improve your fitness before surgery. Depending on your needs we offer:

Free gym memberships

This includes an introduction to the gym by a trainer and specific exercise instructions to support you. We aim to provide four weeks before and after surgery but this will depend on the time between treatments and any operation.

Gym memberships with personalised trainer sessions

This includes one to three sessions per week with a trained gym instructor for four weeks before surgery.

Tailored exercise prescriptions

Our clinical exercise physiologists will agree with you an exercise plan in your lead up to surgery with SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely) goals to support you.

In-hospital supervised exercise with one of the clinical exercise physiologists

Here you will come to the hospital as an outpatient and have an hour long exercise session. We will monitor you with an ECG and blood pressure monitor.

Nutritional support

If there are concerns about your nutrition before surgery then you will be reviewed by our specialist dietitian who will provide a personalised treatment plan for your nutritional needs. This may include prescribing you with oral nutritional supplements (a high calorie drink) to support you to maintain your weight.

We may provide some advice around weight loss, but generally it is advised to avoid any extreme weight changes in the run up to treatments or surgery unless there is time to do this safely.

Psychological support

If your questionnaire highlights a psychological risk, one of our nurses will contact you. They will decide with you if you require specialist psychological support or signpost you to local resources.

Other services

We will refer you to health optimisation programmes if there are concerns around any chronic conditions such as anaemia, diabetes, or sleep apnoea. We will also provide support and advice about reducing the use of alcohol and smoking that will support your treatment and recovery.

Contact us

Email Pom@uhs.nhs.uk
Telephone 023 8120 5469

Prehabilitation service