Started surgery, meeting exceptional need (6)
I believe the answer is:
opened
'started' is the definition.
(opening is a kind of starting)
'surgery meeting exceptional need' is the wordplay.
'surgery' becomes 'op' (short for operation).
'meeting' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'exceptional' is an anagram indicator.
'need' anagrammed gives 'ened'.
'op'+'ened'='OPENED'
(Other definitions for opened that I've seen before include "Exposed, revealed" , "Lifted the lid, say" , "spoken out" , "Undid, a parcel say, or began proceedings" , "Started to write in dictionary" .)