This section gives you information that will be useful in planning for coming into hospital. Ensure that you have the right admission date and you know what to do and what to bring with you.
Your admission date
You will receive a letter informing you of your admission date. You may also be contacted by phone. If your given date is not convenient for you, please phone us immediately using the phone number on your admission letter. We can then offer it someone else and arrange an alternative date for you.
If you cannot attend
We understand that occasionally circumstances change and that a previously agreed admission date is no longer convenient. Please let us know as soon as possible by calling the number on your admission letter. This is for two main reasons:
- By telling us in advance that you cannot attend your admission, we can try to re-use your slot for another patient. This speeds up other patients’ treatment and prevents wasting expensive NHS services.
- If you do not attend your admission without letting us know in advance, you will be discharged back to your GP. This effectively means you’re putting yourself to the back of the queue for treatment. If you let us know, we can usually rearrange your admission in the near future.
If we change your admission date
On most occasions, the admission date you are given will go ahead as planned. However, as a large specialist hospital that deals with critically ill and emergency patients, there may be occasions when it is necessary to move your admission to accommodate these patients. We understand the inconvenience and anxiety this may cause, and we try to minimise these occasions. If this is necessary, we will explain to you at the time the reason why your treatment date has to be moved.
Short notice operations – your opportunity!
Sometimes patients cancel their admission at short notice, and we can offer that patient’s appointment to another patient. This means you would have your treatment quicker than planned.
If you have not already indicated that you would be prepared to come in at short notice for your treatment, you can call the number on your admissions letter and let us know. Your treatment will be exactly the same; you will just have it sooner.
Feeling unwell before an operation
If you are not feeling well close to your admission, have an infected area near your operation site, or have recently visited your GP, please contact our Pre-Assessment Department on 01223 250888. When you call, the pre-operative nurse will ask you some questions to check that you are still fit for surgery. Failure to inform us may result in your operation being cancelled on the day of surgery, causing inconvenience to both the hospital and yourself.
Social arrangements
If you are having day case surgery, you must arrange for someone to stay with you for the first 24 hours after your procedure. Please inform the pre-assessment team if you live alone or cannot arrange for someone to stay, as this may require an overnight admission to the hospital. This could result in rescheduling your admission to a more suitable date.