King Edward VII’s Hospital

Admission

Thank you for choosing to have your procedure with our team here at the King Edward VII’s Hospital. On the day of admission please remember not to eat or drink anything except water for 6 hours prior to your procedure. Your anaesthetist should have contacted you about this and which medications to take and which not to take. If you have not been contacted by an anaesthetic team member please let Professor Purkayastha’s PA know and they will arrange this for you.

Please bring what you need for the duration of your stay. Most procedures with our team here are for overnight stays or a few days only. King Edward VII’s Hospital provides towels and toiletries, but if you wish to bring your own, it may help you to feel more at home. Please also bring a few pairs of loosely fitting nightwear to be more comfortable at night. Please also bring your mobile phone, tablet, and laptop with the relevant chargers and or books that you may want to read while you are recuperating. Please also bring chewing gum which should be used ONLY AFTER your procedure, which helps to freshen your mouth and breath and helps to get your bowels moving sooner after most abdominal procedures.

On the day of admission, please travel to King Edward VII’s Hospital with plenty of time, so that you do not have to rush. The admission desk on the ground floor will be expecting you. Please see the team there and they will arrange for you to be escorted to your room, which may be on the second or third floor. Once settled here, a member of the nursing team will admit you, get you changed and arrange for a hospital bracelet to be printed that you will wear for the duration of your stay. Please ensure that you have any details of allergy at hand, especially if your allergy history is complex.

During your stay, you will have 2 named nurses looking after you every day and night and there is a resident medical doctor (RMO) available to the ward 24 hours a day. Professor Purkayastha will see you every day during your admission, so if you have any questions for him please have those available to ask, he usually does his ward rounds in the morning. There is also a gastrointestinal (GI) nurse practitioner: Faye Jones, who is available for advice following your surgery and she will also review you while you remain an inpatient.

You will be able to order your meals from the King Edward VII’s Hospital menu on admission and every morning for your 3 meals and other dietary needs. If you have a relative that wants to stay with you, this is usually possible (but not during the COVID-19 time): so please do ask (there is usually a fee for this that is not covered by private medical insurance).

It is important that you stay mobile during your hospital stay, walking around the room and the ward once you are able, reduces risks of post surgical complications, such as clots in the legs (DVT) and chest infections. You may be given an in-spirometer (disposable breathing device) to use to carry out breathing exercises, please use this as directed and ask your named nurse to teach you how to use this if the instructions were not clear. Further information on how to use this can also be found on our website.

If you have any comments on your care please let us know directly by emailing info@lgsc.co.uk especially if you have any problems. Our team will be in touch with you for more feedback after your discharge and if you would like to provide a testimonial.

We would like your care to be of a standard that we would want for our relatives and loved ones, and do everything we can to make your patient journey less stressful and more comfortable. Good luck with your procedure we will look after you like our own family. Thank you again for choosing us for your team.

After surgery

After your surgery, you will be brought to the recovery room. A recovery room nurse will care for you and monitor you. You may experience some nausea or vomiting following surgery. This is not unusual and our recovery nurses will try to keep you as comfortable as possible. Other symptoms related to surgery and anaesthesia include shivering, headache, muscle soreness, sore throat, nervousness, or sleepiness. These symptoms usually resolve within 24 hours. If you have pain, be sure to tell the nurse. Medication can be given to ease your pain.

Recovery times vary from person to person, usually around 1-2 hours. Our staff want to be sure that you are ready to go home before you are discharged or, if you are being admitted, transferred to your room.

Professor Purkayastha usually will come and see you and speak to you in recovery about your surgery. You may be still recovering from the anaesthetic and may feel a little sleepy or disorientated so usually Professor Purkayastha will also come and see you once you are back in your room and go over things again with you so you are clear about what was done for you during the procedure.

If you are going home on the day of surgery (for minor surgical procedures)

When you are awake, able to drink fluids, and walk safely, you will be discharged. All patients are discharged through the Main Hospital Lobby. The person who drives you home can pick you up at the Main Entrance. Advise that person to check with the staff at the Information Desk in the Main Lobby if you are not in the lobby.

If you are being admitted to the hospital (for medium and major surgery)

If you are admitted to the hospital, you will stay in the recovery room until you are ready to go to your room. Staff will make sure that your belongings are transported to your room.

Your family and friends are welcome to visit you in your room (although there are restrictions during COVID-19). You also may have a family member stay with you in your room with prior arrangements made with the nursing staff. They can check with the Information Desk in the Main Lobby for your room number. If you need home care nursing services, this will be arranged for you prior to discharge by the case manager assigned to you.

Being discharged

Professor Purkayastha’s team will have your medications for discharge prepared after surgery for your discharge, sometimes there can be a delay with pharmacy deliveries but we endeavour to have all your medication ready by 9am so that you are able to be discharged by 11am.

Post operative care / instructions

On discharge, please give Professor Purkayastha the best contact number for you as he or one of his team will call you the evening after your discharge to see how you are getting on. They will also call you the following day and usually at five days post operatively.

Professor Purkayastha usually follow’s up his patients in the private outpatients clinic approximately 10 days after surgery as well. The GI nurse practitioner (Faye) will also contact you after the surgery to check how you are and also she is available to be contacted for advice if needed, she will give you her contact number when she sees you as an inpatient.

Stitches / clips

Your skin incisions will have been closed with either absorbable stitches and glue or small metal clips (depending on which procedure is being carried out and the nature of the surgery and the size of the incisions). In general for minor laparoscopic surgery the former is used and do not need to be removed. Clips will need to be removed 7-10 days after surgery which can be carried out back to the hospital where you had you surgery but in the outpatients department or by your GP nurse whichever you prefer.

Discharge

We hope that your procedure and stay so far was up to your expectations. Prior to discharge a member of the clinical team will talk you through your wound / surgical site care instructions and also your discharge medications. If you have any questions please use this time to have them answered.

If you usually take any blood thinning medications or clopidogrel or aspirin, please double check with the team when we would like you to restart these.

After abdominal surgery is it common to feel a little constipated for several days after your procedure. This help alleviate this, please stay mobile, well hydrated, eat small, healthy meals as per your instructions from your team and is needed have a low threshold for taking laxatives (which will be prescribed to you as part of your discharge medications for all non-bariatric surgery procedures. If you have had a bariatric procedure or a fundoplication procedure, you will have a separate diet sheet or details from your dietician to follow. For all other procedures please maintain a light diet for a few days prior to building up to a normal meal plan.

The inpatient team will give you a discharge summary on paper and you will receive an electronic letter about your admission and discharge from Professor Purkayastha in the next day or two once you are at home.

A member of our team will contact you a few days after surgery to see what your progress is like and confirm your first follow up appointment with Professor Purkayastha, which will usually be 10-14 days after your procedure for most cases or 7-10 days after surgery for a bariatric (weight loss) procedure. If you have sutures or clips to remove this will be arranged for you as well usually during the phone call a few days after your discharge.

Please do not drive until you feel comfortable to make an emergency stop and check your car insurance policy small print about what it says about you having insurance cover after abdominal surgery to drive. Avoid lifting heavy items for a few weeks and please follow the wound care instructions we have given you.

In case of an urgent problem after your discharge please call Professor Purkayastha’s PA Monday-Friday 9am-5pm on 0203-312-6130 and email us at info@lgsc.co.uk

In the unlikely event of an out of hours issue or emergency, you can call the King Edward VII’s Hospital wards on 0207 467 4202 (Ward 2) or 0207 467 4287 (Ward 3), or Matrons Office on 07964 467 344 they are available 24 hours a day. If for any reason you feel you have an emergency that cannot wait then please come to St Mary’s Hospital A&E department and let us know by email that you are coming in and one of our team will contact you.

We hope that your care was to a standard that we would want for our relatives and loved ones; we hope that you were well looked after during your stay. Thank you again for choosing us for your team.