Patients undergoing surgery will be better prepared for any upcoming procedures thanks to a new booklet called My Surgery Journey.

After seeing the success the booklet had throughout Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, the Surgery and Anaesthesia Network at Northern Sydney Local Health District adopted the idea and began work on their own version of the booklet with the help of an innovation grant award.

The Network’s foremost aim is to be the safest districts in NSW for patients using surgery and anaesthesia services.

The Network’s Service Development Manager, Jillian Moxey, has years of experience working in surgery. She said the district-wide roll out of the My Surgery Journey booklet would make it easier for patients to prepare for their surgery.

"Surgery is complex and getting ready for surgery is a very important part of the process," she said.

Extensive consultation was undertaken across the district which has resulted in a document containing valuable information from a variety of experts from across NSLHD.

The Network’s Clinical Director Dr Michelle Mulligan said the team was passionate to improve the knowledge management in surgery and anaesthetics, while setting a vision for a standard of consistent information across the district for staff, patients and families on their entire elective surgical journey, which starts well in advance of arriving in the hospital.

"The surgery journey begins before a patient is in the theatre,’’ Dr Mulligan said.

"The booklet is there to help and prepare the patient every step of the way.’’