Hospital day surgery....what to do?

ANNA

I'm not sure where to post this and it isn't a moneysaving problem but I still need some advice.

I am booked for hospital day surgery and will come out a couple of hours later. The hospital want me to be collected by my other half or a relative.

I haven't got anything in place. I live alone. I don't have a husband and my parents have died. Any friends are either at work or don't drive.

I am getting everything ready at home, shopping for groceries, getting prescriptions, etc. I will be house bound for 2 weeks. I could get to hospital on the buses. I thought of ordering a cab to get home. I haven't told the hospital this when they phoned this week to check I had someone to pick me up. I can't think what else to do. Will they let me go in a cab? I don't want any problems for me or the hospital staff.

tanith

I think its because its not advisable to be alone if you've had an anaesthetic/surgery that they advise someone collects you and stays with you for 24hrs.. I don't have any suggestions but maybe they would advise you stay overnight if there really is no one to pick you up and stay with you. You ought to discuss it with them really. Maybe you could arrange for friend to come in a cab?

Better_Days

Do have a word with the hospital.

They might want to consider keeping you in overnight if you will be on your own at home. I had day surgery earlier in the year which knocked me for six (I do have other health issues) and they wouldn't have let me go home that evening if I'd been on my own.

If you don't want to ring the ward or department directly ring PALS (will be on the hospital website) who will be able to signpost you in the right direction.

Certainly organise a taxi home but be aware the time that they let you out maybe quite fluid depending on how well you recover and when clinical staff are available to assess you as OK to go home.

I hope it all goes well for you and I would consider getting a good supply of ready meals so you can have hot food with little effort, plus snacks and maybe the likes of complan etc.

claire16c

After a GA I was advised not to be left alone for 48 hours.

My Nan had no one to look after her when she went into hospital unexpectedly and my uncle who lives near her was on holiday in Australia, so she told the hospital she had no way of getting home & no one to stay with her until a few days later so she just stayed in the hospital until then.

Nicki

I think if you tell the hospital, they will happily let you stay overnight, and that if you don't tell them they will not want you to leave in a cab. They can't forcibly detain you of course but you would be discharging yourself against medical advice.

I had very minor day surgery recently and because we had no babysitter available that night, planned to go home in a prebooked black cab where my husband would be waiting with the kids and would be available all night to keep an eye on me. The anaethetist asked my plans before the op, and she wasn't happy to sign off on my discharge on that basis in case I collapsed in the cab on the way home. I had to go home accompanied by someone known to me to get her OK. I ended up staying overnight and leaving the next morning. This was just to fit a mirena coil under GA due to a slight cervical anomaly, so a GA of less than 5 minutes and no invasive work or cutting done, and they still needed me under continuous observation for the first 12 hours afterwards

Wilma33

Can a friend not come and collect you after work? Or one who doesn't work (but doesn't drive) come and meet you and then both get a taxi back to yours?

I'm sure your friends wouldn't want you to be struggling on your own. I'd be quite happy to take the afternoon/day off if I had a friend who was going into hospital and needed/wanted someone to be with them.

~Beanie~

Definitely tell them you live alone and there is no one who can collect you.

My mum had her gall bladder removed earlier this year and could have come out the same day but she advised them she lived alone and there wasn't anyone who could stay with her that night so they kept her in overnight and discharged her the following morning.

ANNA

Thank you for the advice.
I will phone the hospital first thing tomorrow to see what they advise. I am not having GA, just local and sedation which I was told would leave me groggy. I am at increaced risk of clotting, so bit worried about being alone at home.

scarlet55

I recently had day surgery and live alone, the hospital wanted me to stay overnight but I assured them that my daughter was coming to pick me up and would stay with me overnight..so yes, as others have said, tell them and they'll let you stay till the following day.

Good luck with your surgery!:)

DigForVictory

Tell the hospital. What is a night in hospital compared to your health?

I wanted to bale by cab a few years back & was clearly told that it wasn't right to put the cabbie in such an awkward position (then! God knows now!) and so had toi phone a pal & got her dad as she'd gone to work. Bless him he came & bailed me out, almost literally.

If you can't find someone to come & watch over you, please let the hospital do it.

pogofish

I was in this position a few months ago. The only people I had who were able to collect me were themselves ill/frail or were unable to get away from work before the ward closed.

So I was all set for at least an overnight stay.

However, they took me first thing for surgery - In the ward by 7am and on the table bang-on 9, so I was back in the land of awareness by 11am. By 2pm, I had satisfied all their requirements for release - Eaten and kept down food and drink, had been up on my feet and gone to the toilet and not dozed-off for any appreciable length of time - So the surgeon said he was quite happy for me to get a taxi home on my own as it was only a short journey. Except that by the time I had seen the physio and had my letter written, it was well into the Friday rush - So it took nearly an hour but I managed fine.