As an inpatient, you’ll be admitted into hospital and will be staying at least one night.
We will let you know beforehand if there’s anything we suggest you do to prepare for your treatment. For example, we may recommend doing certain exercises or follow a special diet to help with your recovery afterwards.
General anaesthetic operations
For operations performed under general anaesthetic (where you are asleep) you usually won’t be able to eat or drink anything beforehand. The length of time this will be depends on you and your treatment but is usually around six to eight hours for food and two hours for drink.
This will all be explained to you during your initial consultations.
During your stay
Your visitors are welcome to visit you anytime during hospital visitor hours, these differ depending on which ward you are on.
You will need to bring an overnight bag. We recommend you pack:
- Comfortable clothing and nightwear
- Underwear and socks
- Dressing gown and slippers
- Toiletries
- Phone
- Books, magazines, e-readers or other entertainment
- Any medications you’re taking
Our trust is dedicated to looking after you for your care and treatment and will, therefore, carefully assess you to ensure that we can provide the level of care that you need.
In the unlikely event that your health needs change and are more than anticipated, our trust offers a full range of care facilities including intensive care, critical care and high dependency care.
Going home
We ensure you receive as much aftercare as you clinically need. Once your consultant is happy that you are ready to leave hospital, we will make sure you have everything needed to make the best possible recovery whilst at home.
We will discuss your personal recovery plan and provide you with advice about:
- Medications and pain relief
- Help you may need at home
- Driving and returning to work
- Wound care
If you have any questions once you are home, your consultant is available to call should you need them. Some treatments include physiotherapy or follow-up appointments to check that you are recovering as expected.