Our Perioperative Care Framework

The Perioperative Care Framework encompasses the patient journey from contemplation of surgery through to optimal outcome. This framework has been designed to be a practical resource for those developing a perioperative medicine service. 
This guiding framework – 

  • Identifies key steps and principles in the surgical patient’s perioperative care journey.
  • Provides recommendations about how these principles might be operationalised in practice. 
  • Provides resources that support the evidence behind these recommendations and/or their implementation in practice. 


This framework can help guide training, service development and improvement, and research in perioperative medicine. Recommendations and resources will be updated as the field continues to evolve. 

The Perioperative Care Framework was developed by the Perioperative Care Working Group. It was approved by ANZCA Council in December 2021. 

How to use the Perioperative Care Framework?

The Perioperative Care Framework diagram is an interactive graphic and is best viewed in full screen. The full screen button is located on the bottom right hand side of the diagram. 

Principles and recommendations can be accessed in each key step. Definitions relating to perioperative care are located on the right hand side of the diagram. Resources and references used in the development of this framework are also located on the right hand side of the diagram. 


The Perioperative Care Framework is also available as a downloadable pdf

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Last updated 10:49 30.09.2022