The candidate card
Setting
Preoperative assessment clinic, England
Candidate
This is original independent practice: you are a nurse seeing Ms Agnes Satterfield, aged 51, before planned gallbladder surgery. In this fictional case, she has disclosed that she still smokes and asks whether this means her operation will be cancelled. No individual smoking instructions or decision about postponement have yet been provided by the surgical or anaesthetic team. You can contact that team today to clarify her advice, offer referral to a local NHS stop smoking service with her agreement, and arrange a follow-up call to discuss the team's response.
Task (interlocutor: patient)
- Explore her fear about disclosing smoking, her current smoking pattern and how ready she feels to stop.
- Explain briefly why accurate information helps the team plan safe care and how stopping smoking can support recovery.
- Reassure her that your discussion and referral offer are supportive; explain that you must obtain the surgical team's individual advice rather than promise whether surgery will proceed.
- Agree a manageable next step, including her preferred support, clarification from the surgical team and how you will follow up.
In the test you get 3 minutes to read the card and plan, then about 5 minutes to talk. This card is original, written for this site; the interlocutor's card is not shown.
Prepare this card, then say it out loud.
Plan your opening and the tasks below. Keep these notes when you move to the AI role-play.
This is original independent practice: you are a nurse seeing Ms Agnes Satterfield, aged 51, before planned gallbladder surgery. In this fictional case, she has disclosed that she still smokes and asks whether this means her operation will be cancelled. No individual smoking instructions or decision about postponement have yet been provided by the surgical or anaesthetic team. You can contact that team today to clarify her advice, offer referral to a local NHS stop smoking service with her agreement, and arrange a follow-up call to discuss the team's response.
Getting your plan ready…
Preparation is free without an account. AI conversation and marking need sign-in; your first role-play is free. Notes are saved on this device when available. This checklist is your plan, not a score.
How to approach this card
- Start with what cancellation would mean to her, because advice about stopping may be hard to absorb while that question dominates. Ask what she fears will happen after disclosing smoking; explore rather than assume embarrassment or anticipated criticism.
- Move from her cancellation concern to her current smoking pattern and readiness to stop. Use neutral questions rather than language about admitting or failing; separating these topics helps avoid treating continued smoking as evidence that she does not want support.
- Keep the explanation brief: accurate smoking information helps the team plan safe care, and stopping can support recovery. Connect this to the purpose of today's assessment without adding risk figures, stopping deadlines or promises about her recovery.
- Make uncertainty explicit before discussing the referral: no individual instructions or postponement decision have been provided. The usual trap is reassuring her by predicting the surgical decision; instead, distinguish your supportive role from the advice you must obtain.
- Close with one manageable step she agrees to, her preferred support and a follow-up call about the team's response. If time is short, prioritise the unresolved cancellation concern and a clear handover over a lengthy discussion of stopping.
Model route: what a strong candidate might say
Example lines in a workable order for about 5 minutes: opening, key questions, the patient's concern, explaining, then the close. Use them to plan, not to memorise: the patient's replies are not scripted here, and your next line should follow what they actually say.
1. Opening
- “Hello Ms Satterfield, I'm the nurse seeing you before your gallbladder surgery. Thank you for telling me about your smoking.”
- “I understand you're worried about what this means for your operation. Could you tell me what's on your mind?”
2. Key questions
- “What were you worried might happen when you told us that you smoke?”
- “Could you tell me about your smoking at the moment, such as what you smoke and how often?”
- “How do you feel about stopping, and how ready do you feel to try?”
- “What kind of support, if any, would you find helpful?”
3. Handling the patient's concern
Likely concern: She is likely to be worried that her operation will be cancelled because she smokes.
- “That's a very understandable worry. I'm not here to judge you, and telling us was the right thing to do.”
- “I can't tell you today whether surgery will go ahead, because that's for the surgical and anaesthetic team. I'll contact them today to get advice specific to you.”
4. Explaining
- “Knowing about your smoking helps the team plan your care safely. Stopping smoking can also support your recovery after surgery.”
- “With your agreement I can refer you to a local NHS stop smoking service, and arrange a follow-up call to tell you what the team says. Does that sound manageable?”
5. Closing
- “So I'll contact the surgical team today, refer you to the stop smoking service if you agree, and phone you afterwards to share their advice.”
- “What is the best number and time to reach you? And what other questions would you like to ask me?”
Phrases to adapt
Use your own words; these show the register, not lines to memorise.
- Thank you for being open with me.
- Would you prefer to talk about support now or after your other questions?
- Have I answered the question you most wanted to ask?
- What would make our next conversation most useful for you?
Medical words in plain English
| Term | How you might say it to the patient |
|---|---|
| Preoperative assessment | An appointment to check and discuss your health before surgery. |
| Anaesthetic team | The team responsible for your anaesthetic during surgery. |
| Referral | Arranging for another service to offer you support. |
How this card is marked
Two assessors mark the recording on nine criteria: intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness of language and resources of grammar and expression (each 0–6), then relationship building, understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective, providing structure, information gathering and information giving (each 0–3). See the AI Speaking practice guide for what each criterion looks for.
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Questions about this role-play
What if she asks whether stopping now guarantees a good recovery?
Avoid turning a possible benefit into a guarantee. The card supports saying that stopping smoking can support recovery, but provides no individual prediction. If she presses for certainty, acknowledge that the information available does not tell you how her own recovery will go.
What if she asks exactly what the NHS stop smoking service will provide?
Do not invent appointment arrangements, treatments or service eligibility. Ask which details she would need before deciding whether to accept a referral. Explain that those details need checking with the local service, and keep her agreement separate from any unanswered questions about what it offers.
What if the surgical team has not answered by the follow-up call?
Use the call to report the actual position, including that advice remains outstanding if that is the case. Do not interpret silence as permission to proceed or a decision to cancel. Explain what still needs clarification and agree how she will receive the eventual response.
What if she asks directly whether her operation will be cancelled?
Say honestly that you don't know, because the surgical or anaesthetic team hasn't yet given advice about her. Reassure her that you'll ask them today and call her back. Avoid guessing either way, so you give neither false reassurance nor alarm.
What if she isn't ready to stop smoking?
Accept it without pressure and keep the offer open. Explore what makes stopping hard, say support is available whenever she chooses, and still contact the team for her advice and arrange the follow-up call so her question is answered.
Sources
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