In the days leading up to your surgery, you'll need to make travel arrangements for getting to and from the hospital and think about what to pack.
Make sure you give your family and friends plenty of notice about your operation so they can take time off work to be with you, if necessary.
Check your hospital's policy on visiting times and let your family and friends know.
Read more about visiting someone in hospital.
Pre-operative assessment
At some hospitals, you'll be asked to attend a pre-operative assessment, which may be an appointment with a nurse or doctor, a telephone assessment, or an email assessment.
You'll be asked questions about your health, medical history, and home circumstances.
If the assessment involves a visit to the hospital, some tests may be carried out.
This is to check if you have any medical problems that might need to be treated before your operation, or if you'll need special care during or after the surgery.
The tests you have will depend on what operation and the kind of anaesthetic you're having.
These tests might include blood tests, urine tests and pregnancy test for women.
This assessment will usually happen one or more days before your operation.
Make sure you know the results of any previous tests, as well as all the medications, vitamins and herbal supplements you take.
You'll be given clear information on:
whether you need to stop eating and drinking in the hours before your operation, whether you should stop taking your usual medications before going into hospital, what to bring with you into hospital, whether you'll need to stay in hospital overnight and, if so, for how long.
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