Visits for minor surgical procedures are usually carried out within a day. We have a dedicated area providing care from admission to discharge on the ground floor of our hospital. Our day case surgery unit sees around 9,000 patients every year.
Admission times are batched to further reduce the time your child needs to be in the hospital. These times are:
- 7.30am
- 9.30am
- 12.00pm
- 2.00pm
Starvation and fasting rules for the admissions times are below. Note that fasting rules are dependent upon the time your child is due to be admitted.
Starvation and fasting rules for children up under 1 years undergoing a General Anaesthetic
Admission time: 7.30am to 9.29am
No food after midnight – last formula milk finished by 4.30am, 5.30am for breast milk
Clear fluids/water only up to 7.00am – please encourage your child to drink.
Admission time: 9.30am to 11.59am
No food after midnight – last formula milk finished by 6am, 7am for breast milk
Clear fluids/water only up to 8.30am – please encourage your child to drink.
Admission time: 12pm to 1.59pm
Light breakfast e.g. cereal or toast must be finished before 7am.
Last formula milk feed finished by 9.00am, 10.00am for breast milk
Clear fluids/water only up to 11.30am – please encourage your child to drink.
Admission time: 2.00pm to 5.00pm
Light breakfast e.g. cereal or toast must be finished before 7.00am
Last formula milk feed finished by 11.00am, 12.00pm for breast milk
Clear fluids/water only up to 1.30pm – please encourage your child to drink.
Starvation and fasting rules for children up over 1 years undergoing a General Anaesthetic.
Admission time: 7.30am to 9.29am
No food after midnight
Clear fluids/water only up to 7.00am – please encourage your child to drink.
Admission time: 9.30am to 11.59am
No food after midnight
Clear fluids/water only up to 8.30am – please encourage your child to drink.
Admission time: 12pm to 1.59pm
Light breakfast e.g. cereal or toast must be finished before 7am.
Clear fluids/water only up to 11.30am – please encourage your child to drink.
Admission time: 2pm to 5pm
Light breakfast e.g. cereal or toast must be finished before 7am
Clear fluids/water only up to 1.30pm – please encourage your child to drink.
What you need to know
Please read your patient letter carefully as this has all the important information you need before the day.
- You should receive a reminder call from the Day Case Surgery team 72 hours before your appointment. If you haven’t spoken to the team by this time, then please call 0151 252 5455.
- Check your arrival time on your patient letter, please arrive 10 minutes early for your appointment, if possible, it will mean less time waiting.
- Due to limited waiting space, we ask that where possible, one parent or carer accompanies their child to the appointment.
- You can bring some home comforts like your phone and favourite toy but please don’t bring anything larger than a small bag.
- Please do not bring a onesie.  Please ensure that your child does not have any make up, nail varnish or shellac nails on.
- Please give your child paracetamol and ibuprofen at home before you come into the hospital unless they are not allowed these medications. You child will also require these medications following their procedure.
- Female patients over the age of 12 will be required to provide a urine sample for a pregnancy test the day of surgery. You can bring a sample from home on the day, sample pots can be provided by your GP, Pharmacists or collected from the hospital.
- If your child or anyone in the household has either tested positive for covid OR come into contact with anyone that has tested positive for covid within 10 days of the procedure it is important that you inform us of this, as your procedure should be postponed for 10 days.
- Before your admission date, you will receive a letter which contains the above and further important information that will help you prepare for the day.
We’re here to help
If you don’t understand something or have a question about the procedure then please call 0151 252 5455.
Painbusting – feeling sick or sore after an operation
It’s important for us to be able to help children manage any pain or discomfort after their procedure and we encourage children to tell us if they don’t feel well when they wake up. As part of preparing your child for their operation, please download and read Painbusters, a cartoon guide to managing pain, designed for the whole family.