Reportedly understands patient man's operation (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
nose job
'operation' is the definition.
(nose job is a kind of operation)
'reportedly understands patient man's' is the wordplay.
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'understands' becomes 'knows' (understand can mean to know or recognise).
'patient man' becomes 'Job' (biblical figure famous for patience).
'knows' sounds like 'nose'.
'nose'+'job'='NOSE JOB'
(Other definitions for nose job that I've seen before include "work for boat race" , "Assignment for features editor" , "Schnozzle surgery" , "Surgery of the face" , "Rhinoplasty" .)