Public Lecture: Prehabilitation - What is it and why is it important?

This public lecture will be delivered by Dr Andrew Packham and Dr Heather MacKinnon on Thursday 3rd November 2022 at 5:30pm. Both Dr Packham and Dr MacKinnon work at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust which delivers secondary care for the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The Trust is also a tertiary care provider for the East Midlands and hence the Fit4Surgery Cancer service supports people being treated from across this area.

This talk will discuss why it is important to measure how ready individuals are for surgery and how the Fit4Surgery Prehabilitation service can help. This is important as it allows both the patient and the NHS to prepare for that person’s treatment. The different ways to think about each person’s preparation will be explored in the talk, as it is important all aspects of each individual’s health are covered.

Dr Packham and Dr MacKinnon will also talk about the ideas and the research behind prehabilitation, including which elements are important and what is happening across the UK. Information from the Leicester-based Fit4Surgery service will be shared, to show how it works to improve outcomes for people preparing for major cancer or orthopaedic surgery. The talk will finish with where prehabilitation will go in the future and how this could help the NHS recover after the pandemic.