Mid-Nottinghamshire hospital Trust and leisure Trust working together to help patients get fit for surgery

Sherwood Forest Hospitals and Mansfield District Leisure Trust are helping patients hit the exercise room before the operating room to give their surgery the best chance of success.

The new innovative scheme is set to improve the health and fitness of patients who are undergoing planned surgery by giving them the opportunity to be referred to Mansfield District Leisure Trust’s Healthy Life Programme. Research has shown that patients who are fit and healthy often have better surgical outcomes.

Led by Consultant Anaesthetist at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, Dr Rebecca Barker, and Sister Kelly Crutchely, who is part of the Pre-operative Assessment Team, any patient who is booked in to have an operation can ask to be referred to the programme, but there will be a particular focus on elderly patients.

“When patients are coming into hospital for surgery, it’s really important that they are as fit and healthy as they can be in order to have the best possible outcome from their surgery. We want to help our patients get the best results possible and help them to help themselves so we’ve partnered with Mansfield District Leisure Trust to offer this beneficial programme. Getting fit just six weeks before an operation has been shown to reduce the likelihood of complications during and after surgery.

We’re really keen to promote this new initiative to as many patients as possible waiting to undergo surgery. A patient’s commitment to recover, even before going into surgery, plays a large factor in their recovery. The fitter you are going into surgery, the quicker and easier recovery will be and the quicker patients can be back in their own homes recovering.

Dr Rebecca Barker, Consultant Anaesthetist at Sherwood Forest Hospitals

We are delighted to partner up with Sherwood Forest Hospitals on this important scheme. Helping local people be better prepared physically for upcoming operations is vital work, and something we are extremely proud to be involved in.

Healthy Life has been a real success story for the Trust in Mansfield, and our dedicated fitness teams have helped hundreds of local people get and stay healthy, improving their quality of life.

Geoff Waller, Chair of Mansfield District Leisure Trust

The programme gives patients access to four Mansfield Leisure Centres including specialised support, gym, swim and classes at a reduced price for up to six months.