Resident Doctors are on strike from 7 - 13 April. Please continue to attend appointments at the hospital unless you are contacted directly to rearrange. Our hospitals will be busy, but we are still here to provide emergency care when you need it.

Surgery

Checklist for your child’s surgery

Top tips for parent and care givers

View or download this information as a PDF

Please help to prepare your child for their hospital experience from the comfort of your own home by downloading the little journey app.

1. Please make sure you know the date and time of your admission and the ward you are being admitted to.

  • If you are travelling by car, please park in the multi-storey car park near the A & E Department. Car parking is limited. You can find further transport and parking information here.
  • Please note the time you arrive is not the time of your operation but the time of admission and review by the surgical and anaesthetic team. It is important that you remain on the ward until this is done.
  • For daycase surgery, you could possibly be in for the whole day, this could be until 8pm at night.
  • If you have other children, we ask that you make childcare plans for the whole day, and that you do not bring them with you as space is limited.
  • We have facilities to accommodate one parent or carer if a child is staying overnight.

2. Interpreters

If you will need an interpreter, please inform the secretary before the day of admission.

A person with parental responsibility must accompany the child in order to give consent. Patients over 16 years can give their own consent if they have capacity.

4. Pregnancy Testing

If your child is aged 12 years or over, they will need to take a pregnancy test on the ward before their procedure. Please follow this link for further details.

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5. Please follow the fasting instructions for the time your child is coming in, either morning or afternoon (see admission letter)

If your child has eaten beyond these times, they cannot have their operation on the day and will be sent home. It is dangerous to have an anaesthetic if your stomach has anything in it.

Important advice:

7:30am admission for the morning operating list:

  • 2.30am is the latest your child can have any food and most drinks – this includes milk, formula milk feed, fizzy drinks, thickened drinks, smoothies, fruit juice and sweets.
  • 4.30am is the latest that breast milk can be given.
  • Please encourage your child to continue to drink water or clear diluted squash/cordial such as Robinsons or similar until they arrive at hospital.
  • Your child can continue sipping on the ward, unless told otherwise.
  • PLEASE REMEMBER that ALL thickened fluids are the same as milk and food for safety purposes. Thickened water is still a thickened fluid and must not be taken after 2.30am.
Important advice:

12noon admission for the afternoon operating list:

  • 7.30am is the latest your child can have any food and most drinks – this includes milk, formula milk feed, fizzy drinks, thickened drinks, smoothies, fruit juice and sweets.
  • 9.30am is the latest that breast milk can be given.
  • Please encourage your child to continue to drink water or clear diluted squash/cordial such as Robinsons or similar until they arrive at hospital.
  • Your child can continue sipping on the ward, unless told otherwise.
  • PLEASE REMEMBER that ALL thickened fluids are the same as milk and food for safety purposes. Thickened water is still a thickened fluid and must not be taken after 7.30am.
Information:

Children should continue to take their regular medications/inhalers as usual during the fasting period, unless advised otherwise. However, any medicines that your child takes with/in food should not be taken until after the procedure.

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6. Little Journey

As a Children’s Hospital, we have introduced the use of an app to prepare both you and your child for coming into hospital. We encourage all our children, young people and families to use it. Please help to prepare your child for their hospital experience from the comfort of your own home by downloading the Little Journey app.

which take you directly to the Leeds Children’s Hospital content, or download from your usual app store and select from the ‘hospital’ drop down menu.

As well as a checklist of what to bring, and the fasting instructions, it also provides…

  • a virtual tour of the ward and operating theatre
  • an introduction to the staff who will look after you
  • games for your child to play before they come in or when they are waiting on the ward
  • relaxation techniques to use
Important:

Please note

The fasting instructions on the app are determined by the admission time entered, so it is important to add the correct admission time, and look at the correct fasting instructions.

7. Anaesthetics

To read more about anaesthetics, including general risk information and further resources to help prepare children of different ages, please see the parent and carer information section on the Royal College of Anaesthetists’ website here.

8. What to bring on the day

  • The admission letter.
  • Please bring all medication/inhalers your child uses.
  • We do not routinely give pain relief for you to take home with you. Most families already have Paracetamol (Calpol™) and Ibuprofen (Nurofen™) at home. Please check that you have some, and as part of the discharge process we will tell you your child’s dosage to take at home after this procedure.
  • Please ensure your child is wearing loose comfortable clothing (eg pyjamas). Please avoid coming to theatre in onesies, any one-piece outfit, tight jeans/trousers.
  • It is advisable to bring an extra change of clothes, nappies if required, and any comforters or favourite toys.
  • If your child has a favourite food, you are welcome to provide this to consume following surgery.

Take a look at our Leeds Children’s Hospital TV site www.lchtv.com to see short films about our hospital, wards and departments.

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9. If your child is unwell during the 48 hrs before the date of admission please contact the secretary using the number on the letter.

  • If your child is suffering from a new cough or cold (sore throat, runny nose, fever), diarrhoea, vomiting, rash, infectious disease eg chicken pox or has required paracetamol or ibuprofen to relieve a fever, their surgery may have to be postponed until they have recovered.
  • If you need to contact the ward on the day of admission for advice or if your child has taken ill on the morning of the operation, please contact the ward using the contact numbers below:
Information:

Ward 49 (day procedure) 7.30am to 8pm 0113 392 7449
CSAL (overnight stay) 7.30am – 8pm 0113 392 6502

10. Rearranging your child’s surgery

If you need to rearrange your child’s surgery, please contact the secretarial team as soon as possible. This will allow us to rearrange this date and offer the operation to another child on the waiting list.

11. Going home after surgery

If your child is travelling home on the same day as their procedure they cannot travel home on public transport. Please make sure you have arranged transport via private car or taxi.

Please note ambulance transport must be booked via your GP, the hospital does not book ambulance transport for patients coming into hospital.

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  • LN: 004131
  • Edition number: 003 (Version 3)
  • Developed by: Sharon Johnston, Paediatric Consultant Anaesthetist
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