What are the fasting instructions for my operation?

Fasting is very important to avoid complications during your anaesthetic which is required before any operation. Please remember if you eat or drink when you are supposed to be fasting can result in your operation being delayed or cancelled.

Morning admissions

No solid food to be eatenfrom 1am on the day of your

admission.You may drink water from 1am until 6.00am, nothing

after this time. Please do not chew gum or suck sweets.

Afternoon Admissions:

Have breakfast, preferably cereal or two slices of toast at 6am.

You can drink water from 6am-11am, nothing after this time.

Please do not chew gum or suck sweets.

You may have a sip of water to help you swallow your tablets,

ifrequiredbefore your operation.

Research shows patients who drink water up to the scheduled hours

areless thirsty, less anxious and have lower incidence of nausea

andvomitingafter their anaesthetic.

If you fail to follow the guidance regarding not eating sweets and

chewing gum then your operation may be cancelled. If you have any

questions about preparing for your operation please contact us on the

number at the front of this leaflet.

References

British Consensus Guidelines on Intravenous Fluid TherapyPatients,

revised March 2011.

Raising the Standard: A compendium of audit recipes, Royal College of Anaesthetist,

January 2010.

AAGBI Safety Guideline, Pre-operative assessment and patient preparation. The

roleof the Anaesthetist, January 2010

Perioperative fasting in adults and children (A Royal College of Nursing guideline for

multidisciplinary team) Nov 2005

Publication date: August 2016

Date of review: August 2018

Responsibility for review: Ward Managers’ Forum

Leaflet reference: PIL/CG/0014b

Version: 5.0

Coming in for the Day

Information for patients having

Elective Surgery

Bishop Auckland Hospital

Day Surgery Unit

Telephone Numbers

Reception: 01388 455120

Day Surgery Unit: 01388 455135

When is the admissions unit open?

The unit is open from 7.30am – 8.30pm Monday to Friday

(closed weekends and bank holidays).

What are the visiting hours?

This unit does not have visiting hours due to patients short length

of stay.

Please Note; you do not need to ring the ward the night before

Yoursurgery to confirm your admission time.

Staff will contact you if there are any changes.

Please make sure you have given your up to date contact

details to the waiting list or pre assessment nurse.

The time of youradmission is not the time of your operation.

There may be severalhours to wait before your actual operation time

once you havearrived on the unit. Please bring something such as

reading material or a personalmusic player.

The unit is a mixed sex area meaning males and females are seen on

thesame day, however changing facilities are single sex and staff will

ensurethat your privacy and dignity is maintained.

To ensure patients’ privacy and dignity we ask that relativesdo not

Remainon the unit as there are minimal facilities for relatives to

remain with the patients.

If you have a specific request please discuss this with the

Ward Manager or Nurse in Charge before your admission date.

If you need to stay overnight after your surgery you will either be

Transferredto another ward, or possibly another hospital.