At your pre-operative assessment appointment, your operation date will be booked and we will ensure that you have all the information you need specific to your operation or treatment. You will be given instructions on preparing for your stay and what you need to bring with you on the day of your admission.
On the day of your admission to the Treatment Centre, please bring with you:
- Your appointment card or letter
- Your personal details, including your current address and telephone number
- Your GP’s address and telephone number
- A freshly laundered dressing gown so that you can keep warm, as it is important that we stop you getting cold
- Any prescription medication you need to take during the day – please only bring what you need for one day
- Wear loose fitting tracksuit style clothes – but as few items as possible
- You may bring a mobile phone and charger if you wish
- The name and contact details of the person (a friend or relative) who will be collecting you from hospital
- We also ask that you use a small foldable bag to pack any items you have been asked to bring with you, as we are unable to look after large suitcases
- Some procedures may require patients to stay overnight – you will be informed in advance if this applies to you
When you arrive at the Treatment Centre
- We would like you to arrive at the time stated on your letter for your admission – you should go to the theatre suite reception desk at the Treatment Centre (just ask at the Centre’s main reception desk for directions when you arrive)
- The staff at the theatre suite reception desk will register your arrival with their theatre team colleagues
- You will be asked to wait until you are called through to a private pre-op bay, where you can change out of your clothes, if your operation requires this to happen, and where you will then be prepared for the operation
- Any belongings will be placed in a property bag ready to be returned to you after your procedure. We don’t have facilities to keep such property bags locked away, so our advice is always to leave any valuables at home
- A nurse will carry out some health checks
- A therapist will discuss your rehabilitation with you
- The surgeon will discuss the final preparation for your operation and confirm your consent for the procedure
- If you are having a procedure under local anaesthesia, this will be administered by the surgeon; otherwise an anaesthetist will explain and prepare you for the type of anaesthetic appropriate for your operation
- You will be awake until you arrive in the operating theatre even if you are going to have a general anaesthetic.
- You will be asked to walk to the theatre unless the anaesthetic used prohibits you from doing do, so or you have mobility problems – in which case, you will be taken on a trolley or wheelchair to the operating theatre
Every surgeon working at the Treatment Centre is on the specialist register of the General Medical Council (GMC). Our nursing staff are highly qualified, registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and dedicated to caring for our patients in a warm and professional manner. Our operating department practitioners (OPDs) also work in the Treatment Centre, supporting their surgical and nursing colleagues; our OPDs are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Getting to the Treatment Centre
Please arrange for someone (a friend or relative) to take you to and from the Treatment Centre. They will not need to wait for you and they will be contacted when you are ready to leave (if this is what has been arranged to happen).
After the operation
Once the operation is over you will be taken to recovery. Here you will:
- Continue your recovery in a private bay
- Be given a drink and a snack
- Be able to get dressed into the clothes you arrived in
- Make phone calls from your mobile telephone
- A member a staff will call the person coming to accompany you home to let them know that you are ready to leave
- When you have been assessed to be fit to leave the Treatment Centre, you will be taken to the discharge lounge (level four) where someone you have arranged to take you home will be waiting for you
Going home and your care
Once you have recovered sufficiently to go home you will be provided with further information, which includes:
- Advice on what you need to do to aid your recovery, such as daily exercises
- Details of any medicines you have been given and how to take them
- Details of your Treatment Centre contact if you need further support from the hospital/Treatment Centre team
Leaving the Treatment Centre
You may be given specific instructions about driving after your operation. Either way, we recommend that you arrange for someone over 18 years old to drive you home or be with you during the journey home. If you have had an anaesthetic, you should not drive for at least 24 hours after your operation.
Recovery at home
It takes time to recover from any operation and, depending on your circumstances, you may need to arrange for a family member, friend, neighbour or carer to help you with some day-to-day activities.
Follow-up care
- You may need to attend an appointment with your GP surgery within a few days of leaving the Treatment Centre to have your dressing changed or to have stitches removed. If this is the case, then we will give you specific instructions when you leave the Treatment Centre
- If you need a follow-up appointment, you will be informed about this when you are discharged
- Your GP will be notified of the details of your treatment so that they are able to offer you future help should you need it
- In some circumstances – and before you leave the Treatment Centre – we may agree to call you post-operatively where that is required
