Table 1.

Participant characteristics.

Participant's name *	Age bracket	Gender	Operation	Decile of IMD **	Stage of preoperative optimisation at time of interview ***
Ann	40–55	Female	Vascular	2	In POHO period
Barbara	55–70	Female	Orthopedic	2	POHO completed, waiting for operation
Jessie	<40	Female	Orthopedic	1	In POHO period
Leslie	55–70	Male	Hernia	1	Post-operative
Martin	55–70	Male	Orthopedic	5	POHO completed, waiting for operation
Michelle	55–70	Female	Orthopedic	4	In POHO period
Pat	>70	Female	Orthopedic	3	In POHO period
Sandra	55–70	Female	Orthopedic	9	POHO completed, operation not required
Stanley	55–70	Male	Orthopedic	5	Referred to POHO

^* Participants' names have been changed to preserve confidentiality

^** Based upon participant's postcode.

^***Stages in chronological order: in POHO period; POHO completed, waiting for operation/operation not required; post-operative POHO, pre-operative health optimization; IMD, Index of Multiple Deprivation; 1, most deprived decile; 10, least deprived decile.