By improving your diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption before surgery you can reduce post operative complications, spend less time in hospital and recover quicker.

Our prehabilitation service supports patients in preparing both physically and mentally for planned surgery. Patients can be referred to our service by health care professionals including doctors and nurses.

The aim of prehabilitation is to improve patients physical fitness, nutrition, and wellbeing through a 1 to 1 support programme. Most improvements can be achieved through simple lifestyle changes, like increasing physical activity, improving nutrition and reducing smoking or alcohol intake. This approach gives you the best chance of dealing with the stresses of medical treatments, including surgery, and the actions you take now could help you recover more quickly and reduce the time you spend in hospital. Please watch our video to find out more about our service and the ways you can prepare for surgery.

Watch our video on how to prepare for surgery

How can eating well help?

Eating well means choosing a wide variety of nutritious foods every day that provide enough energy (calories), and a good balance of protein and other nutrients, to maintain a healthy weight and help the body withstand and recover from the side-effects of treatment including surgery.

The Eatwell Guide shows the different types of foods and drinks we should consume - and in what proportions - to have a healthy, balanced diet. The Eatwell Guide applies to most people regardless of weight, dietary restrictions/preferences, or ethnic origin. Anyone with special dietary requirements or medical needs might want to check with a registered dietitian on how to adapt the Eatwell Guide to meet their individual needs.

Eatwell Guide Image

We understand that eating well isn't always easy. Here are some helpful links to leaflets on managing problems with eating with the aim to making eating more enjoyable. Your physiotherapist or dietitian may recommend a specific one to read.

Coping with a small appetite with diabetes
Coping with a small appetite
Coping with a small appetite on a plant based diet

More information about healthy diets can be found on our nutrition and dietetics pages. You can also view helpful guidance about diet during cancer treatment.

Maintaining and improving your physical activity in the run up to surgery or during cancer treatment is very important. There is lots of evidence to show that being more active will:

reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, including fatigue, nausea and aches and pains
reduce the length of time you spend in hospital after an operation
speed up your overall recovery
improve your wellbeing during treatment
reduce post operative complications such as chest infections and blood clots.

The NHS provides national guidelines for adults and older adults for physical activity. The image below shows the amount of exercise that is recommended for adults per week. This equates to five 30-minute brisk walks per week plus some exercises to strengthen your muscles on two days a week. Your physiotherapist will work with you to build a personalised plan to increase your activity levels. If you already meet these guidelines for physical activity, you should try and continue this through any treatment you are having, and right up until your operation, unless you have been told otherwise by a health care professional.

Physical Activity For Adults And Older Adults

There are some useful guides and workouts you can access:

NHS Live Well exercise guides
Move Against Cancer support and exercise
Prehab4Cancer online workouts

If you have a diagnosed health condition you can access some local leisure centres for a reduced cost. Below are the links on where and how to do this in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Physical activity referral scheme for Bristol leisure centres
Better Health North Somerset support and advice
South Gloucestershire referral scheme for Active Lifestyle Centres

Breathlessness

Breathlessness when exercising is normal, however if you are experiencing breathlessness at rest, or your breathlessness has changed then please let a health professional know before you continue to exercise. You can find out more about managing and treating breathlessness from MacMillan Cancer Support.

Relaxation

Watch these breathing exercises that you can practice at rest, or when you feel breathless such as after exercise.

We understand that going through any medical procedure can cause feelings of anxiety and stress. Our prehabilitation service will help you talk about how you're feeling and suggest ways you can improve your wellbeing. If needed, we can refer you to specialist support.

The NHS has information on five steps to mental wellbeing. On their website, you'll find stress busting tips, audio guides and breathing exercises to help with stress.

You or your family can also self-refer to the following local services:

Watch this relaxation video that can be used to help relax the body and mind if you're feeling tense.

Fatigue

Many cases of tiredness are due to stress, not enough sleep, poor diet and other lifestyle factors. There are lots of ways you can reduce fatigue and the NHS website has self-help tips to restore your energy levels including a bedtime meditation video.

For additional information and support around managing fatigue please visit the Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire Cancer Alliance website.

Occupational therapist, Kirsty, from Royal United Hospital Bath, has a created a presentation on practical ways to cope with cancer related fatigue.

Smoking

Whilst you are having medical treatment, or waiting for an operation, stopping smoking is one of the healthiest choices you can make.

Stopping smoking before you have an operation lowers your chances of experiencing complications during and after your operation. It has been shown to help you to recover quicker and spend less time in hospital. Studies have shown that if you develop a chest infection after your operation you are likely to spend up to 11 additional days in hospital.

If you're having cancer treatment, stopping smoking may help the treatment work better. It can help your body respond to the treatment and heal more quickly, including reducing possible side effects. It may also lower the risk of certain cancers coming back after treatment.

Getting support will increase your chances of quitting. The NHS has online support available to help you quit.

Alcohol

It's recommended to drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread across 3 days or more. For guidance one unit of alcohol equates to half a pint of regular beer, lager or cider or half a small glass of wine or 1 single measure of spirits.

There's no completely safe level of drinking, but sticking within these guidelines lowers your risk of harming your health and keeping you well during medical treatment.

Find out how many units you drink and get top tips on how to reduce your intake on the NHS Better Health website.

It is important to avoid alcohol completely at least two weeks before your surgery. This is because alcohol can increase risks related to having anaesthetic, bleeding during your operation and complications such as infections after your surgery.

If you are dependent on alcohol, stopping suddenly can be dangerous and you may need support to cut down. Please speak to your health care professional about this.

Email: prehab@uhbw.nhs.uk

Call: 0117 342 7349 (voicemails are checked weekly)

You cannot self-refer to this service, please contact your surgical team if you would like to know more about a referral.

Healthcare professionals can refer to the UHBW Prehab team by completing a Careflow service order. The prehab service at UHBW is currently only available to patients undergoing surgery in the following specialties; upper GI, hepatobiliary, colorectal, thoracic and head and neck.

Feedback

If you've completed your prehab programme, we would love to hear your feedback about your experience. This information will help us improve our service.

Complete the patient experience questionnaire.

Watch our video on how to prepare for surgery

Who we are

By improving your diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption before surgery you can reduce post operative complications, spend less time in hospital and recover quicker.

Watch our video on how to prepare for surgery

By improving your diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption before surgery you can reduce post operative complications, spend less time in hospital and recover quicker.

How can eating well help?

Breathlessness

Relaxation

Fatigue

Smoking

Alcohol

Feedback

Physical activity

Nutrition

Wellbeing support

Cancer support

Preparing for your treatment support

Who we are

By improving your diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption before surgery you can reduce post operative complications, spend less time in hospital and recover quicker.