To ask anyone in the NHS how day surgery lists are determined?

Have you any idea how many people would give anything to have your slot just because you can’t be bothered to wait? Wow - entitlement right there. You clearly don’t need to surgery if you are in a position that you want to leave and not have your surgery. To say you have paid enough tax is a dreadful thing to say. Shame on you and this is why the NHS wastes so much money. I am half thinking that you are joking just to get a response !

Exactly this - as someone who organises theatre lists it is all on clinical decisions rather than anything else. Also depends on if beds are available etc etc

it’s one big jigsaw and relies on porters; patients being ready; patients turning up; the correct kit being in theatre; recovery time needed as if a say case then everyone needs to go home

As an aside always follow op instructions - the amount of people who arrive at theatre with a costa in their hand … a waste of money …

My husband was last in theatre for foot surgery. 5pm They said it was because feet are more likely to spread infection than hips, knees.

My friend was expected to be in for three days, pleased to be discharged after two.

hip replacements increasingly are day case procedures these days

But a hip replacement isn't a day surgery case.

Not quite surgery but my DC needed an anaesthetic for an MRI and was on the day ward with loads of other children requiring the same. We were told the anaesthetist would decide order that morning after speaking to everyone. My DC was second to go and I’m convinced it is because she felt sorry for me as I was by myself and when she was explaining the procedure I asked questions which led her to think I was a medical professional but I explained was actually due to my husband currently being an inpatient in the same hospital and had had lots of scans over the previous few weeks.

She's already had the surgery.

Have you got contact details for the pre-op nurses? They probably know how lists in your hospital are put together and can explain that, even if that ends up being confirmation you're likely to be at the end of the list.

They / your GP might be able to prescribe anti anxiety medication for you to take on the day of the surgery. If you're especially anxious they might be able to let a friend/relative stay with you in the waiting area.

It's better for your recovery to only fast for the minimum time required - your body will be working hard after surgery to heal the bits the surgeons were working on and it needs fuel and a good supply of protein for that. So a late night snack is the choice I'd make - for better healing and for more comfortable waiting.

Guidance for children now talks about waking them to give them a snack before the fasting cut off times.

It's also better to not be dehydrated so again stick to the minimum time for not drinking. This will help them with finding a vein for a cannula and help you by not feeling too rubbish. Look up 'sip to send' - you'll probably be able to carry on drinking still water whilst you're waiting. Lip salve will probably be ok and there are dry mouth gels which are worth asking about.

There's usually internet access in hospitals so you can plan the day with activities to do whilst you wait - if it's too hard to concentrate on a book you might have some games to play or shorter things to read online. You might also find interesting spontaneous conversations with the other people in the waiting room.

And yes, a lot of the challenge in managing healthcare is in managing uncertainty - you can't control the list or your operation potentially being cancelled on the day. So control the stuff you can control. Have a snack of your choosing with you. Have a fun evening back up plan if surgery doesn't happen.

Do you know what you're scared about? Pain? Anaesthesia? Losing control? It's possibly worth poking at that a bit and talking to someone about it.

It may help you to remember that it's your choice to have this operation. Nobody will make you. You can ask about other treatments or decide it's not worth the risk of surgery.

Actually that’s not true. I’ve also had a day surgery where I was taken down past 2pm! (Discharged at 6pm)

I was listed first as a simple case but also likely to have needed a longer recovery time for pain management than say a wisdom tooth removal.

When a family member of mine had a serious operation they were put in first as the surgeon/s knew it would be difficult and wanted to get that done.
On that basis, if you're near the end at least you have the consolation that it's probably less serious / a bit more routine.
(The op went ok and the surgeon told me afterwards that he was relieved).

I've been taken in to surgery at 5pm before, after waiting all day.

Glad it all went well in the end, wishing you a speedy recovery!

That wasn't too long to wait

Glad its all over now and you can get home and rest

There are lots of reasons a list order is determined as it is and the order is normally decided after each patient has been checked in and seen by the surgeon and anaesthetist. It could be a child or a diabetic first due to blood sugars. The types of operations on the list also factor in (and the need for specialist equipment/staff for particular cases). General anaesthetics also tend to go first rather than local anaesthetics in the case of day surgery to allow the longer recovery time. So many variables really. If its a list where all the surgeries are the same operation, unless it's medical need, then it's the order you were added to the list normally.

I went first due to a latex allergy as it meant they could clean the room during the night and avoid anything latex until all the allergy cases are over to avoid cross contamination.

There will be lots of reasons people end up higher up, so if you are just a bog standard simple case you will probably be waiting a while.

That's not true at all.

I was scheduled for day surgery at midday, but some emergency cropped up and I didn't get my op done until well after 4pm. They were really apologetic about it.

It was after 7 when I left the hospital. The poor surgeon was still there, and he'd been at the hospital since 7 am, and operating since 8.

I was also pleasantly surprised about how well my son's pain was managed. He was an inpatient for all of his surgeries and the pain team were around every day asking about his pain and if he needed to go up or down on any pain meds he was on.

When he had his last surgery in November, his first planned surgery, they made a plan about pain relief before the surgery and decided to give him an epidural to be absolutely certain he was as pain free as possible. He was also given morphine during the actual surgery and it turned out the epidural probably wasn't necessary so they took it out faster than expected because he was coping really well.

They also had him on anti sickness meds if he even felt slightly sick to reassure him that he wouldn't be sick. They were wonderful with managing things like that for him.

Have a small snack just before the time you are told to start fasting.
Its not difficult to be a little flexible in these circumstances.