BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery has effectively addressed the challenges faced by traditional minimally invasive surgery. Well-designed preoperative planning is crucial for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. METHODS: This paper proposes a preoperative planning method based on a clinical evaluation system. The particle swarm optimisation algorithm and the evaluation indices including accessibility, visibility, operability, and hand-eye coordination are adopted. RESULTS: The simulation validation and the experimental verification were conducted to compare the pre-operative planning scheme and the clinical scheme, taking the oesophageal hiatal hernia repair as an example. The preoperative planning scheme demonstrated superior accessibility and hand-eye coordination, achieving shorter surgical time and reduced task load. CONCLUSION: The proposed preoperative planning method is feasible and effective through simulation and experimentation. This method has potential applications in various surgical robot systems and procedures, which can provide surgical guidance for surgeons in different departments.