Had a Pre-op Assessment but No Surgery Date? What to Ask

Pre-op and the operation date are separate steps

Pre-op is usually arranged once you have been listed for surgery. Its purpose is to check you are ready for the operation and to plan your care. Scheduling the operation itself is a separate job, usually done by a booking or waiting-list team, based on theatre availability, clinical priority and how long people have waited.

Hospitals arrange pre-op at different points: some shortly before a planned date, others well in advance. There is no national rule linking pre-op to an operation date, so we cannot give you a typical gap.

What completing pre-op does and does not mean

Completing pre-op does not by itself mean you will be given a date, or that surgery will go ahead. The assessment may find something that needs looking at first, and the clinical team decides what happens next.

Hospitals also set their own rules on how long pre-op findings stay current. If a long time passes, you may be asked to repeat some or all of it. Ask your hospital what its rule is rather than assuming.

What it means for your waiting time

Under NHS England's referral-to-treatment (RTT) rules, the clock that started with your referral stops when your first definitive treatment starts. A pre-op assessment is not treatment, so it does not stop or reset your wait. If the hospital tells you your waiting-list status has changed, ask it to explain why.

If you have waited more than 18 weeks

What to ask the hospital

• Am I on the waiting list for surgery, and since what date?
• Has a decision to admit me for surgery been recorded?
• Is anything else needed before I can be offered a date, such as test results, another appointment or a review of my pre-op findings?
• Who is responsible for scheduling my operation, and how will they contact me?
• How long do pre-op findings stay current at this hospital, and what happens if mine lapse?
• Can I be considered for short-notice dates if one becomes available?

Who to contact

Start with the team named on your pre-op or listing letter: usually the surgical waiting-list or booking team, or your consultant's secretary. If you cannot get an answer, the hospital's Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help informally. If you want to make a formal complaint, NHS guidance says you can complain to the hospital or to the organisation that commissions the service, usually your integrated care board (ICB), but not both.

This guide explains administrative processes only. If your symptoms change or get worse while you wait, contact your GP, NHS 111, or the clinical team named on your letter.

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