Changing demographics of peri‐operative patients: increases and decreases

The 7th National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (NAP7) reveals important changes in the characteristics of people undergoing surgery in the UK [1]. This bears out the daily experience of many practising anaesthetists who note anecdotally that their patients are older, more comorbid and more likely to be living with obesity. Quantifying these temporal changes should allow better resource allocation; targeted training and education for practising anaesthetists; and improved multidisciplinary risk assessment and patient communication.