Can you go straight home after having GA? General Anaesthetic

[boysforyoueh]

I'm due an op soon. It says 'you must' have someone with you to pick you up after surgery.

But I don't have anyone able to. H will be busy elsewhere. So I hope they don't cancel my surgery simply because I have nobody

But my main question is, how soon after a short time under GA can you go home? Is it simply a case of blood pressure reading fine and then doing a wee? As they like to make sure you can wee

Can I just go after that? It'll have to be in a taxi but the booklet I've got is again saying you can't leave the ward alone

Do you suggest that the OP goes without an important operation because of a bed crisis that was deliberately engineered by the Tories? Why don't you berate the people who have CAUSED the problem, instead of the little people who are trying to survive without adequate health provision?

I'm so sorry you are in this position @boysforyoueh but it really doesn't matter if a million people tell you to just lie or just walk out. You have been told you must have someone to collect you as a condition of you having surgery
Don't mislead the nurses and risk it, it's not fair to put added pressure on them
Ring the hospital and ask for advice

No.... I and others saying similar are suggesting she doesn't LIE then spring on them at point of discharge she has no escort home...

Hospital transport is usually only available for outpatients appointments. It’s staffed by a driver who isn’t a paramedic, and has no clinical responsibility for the passengers. They’re driving the minibus or car, not monitoring the passengers! Same with a taxi, the driver isn’t usually classified as a carer in terms of a responsible adult.

@MeanderingGently your insurance is likely to be invalidated if you are driving within 24 hours of sedation or anaesthesia. Bear that in mind.

@boysforyoueh phone the unit and explain you have no responsible adult to collect you. They may be able to arrange an overnight admission or monitoring in an observation area. Don’t wait until you’re there, it’s not fair on staff or the bed manager. It might be a relatively minor op with light quick GA but the after effects are the same and you need someone to care for you. (Also rectal surgery can bleed like heckers, you wouldn’t want to be in a taxi or on public transport with that!)

You are not insured ro drive within 24hrs of sedation. If you did get into an accident and doctors had advised you not to drive within 24hrs of sedation then it's not just your insurance either you have to worry about.

As others have said, if you haven't already done so, ring up in advance to discuss your situation. You won't be the first or last patient to be in similar circumstances I promise, and with advance notice there's usually some kind of solution to be found.
But don't lie or spring the problem on the staff when you arrive. You are much more likely to have your surgery postponed, thus not only disadvantaging yourself, but wasting currently very precious resources, if there has been no advance planning.
Hope you get it sorted and that the surgery goes smoothly.

@boysforyoueh - would you feel happy sharing your location - there may be a local MNer who would accompany you home from the hospital - once you were at home, your dh would be there if there were any problems (which is unlikely).

Or could you ask on a local FB group, or even hire a carer for an hour?

I'd be very careful of trying to go home on your own. I had a GA for a Laparoscopy and felt as a Flea. Until I stood up to go home and fell over! I had to get undressed and back into bed and DH had to go home and come back the next morning.

I'd lie and say someone was waiting downstairs to take me home.

The chance of something being wrong is teeny tiny. I would have no worries whatsoever about going home alone.

Staying means taking up a bed unnecessarily and taking up more staff time. So the lie would be to the benefit of both myself as a patient and the hospital.

I'm not sure why I am bothering to put my child through medical school when clearly non medically trained people know better 🙄

Many hospitals have a volunteer run service where members of the public give lifts to or from hospital appointments. Ask if your hospital does and if so could you be put in touch with them. We used the is service in the past with my late dad when nobody was available to pick him up.

Fingers crossed for you OP that you manage to find some sort of arrangement.

Or you would be taking up a bed unexpectedly so no other fucker can be seen and unnecessarily taking up staffs time when they've been scheduled elsewhere if (God forbid) something happened
🙄
Surely you are not that stupid
Just tell the truth

The chance of something going wrong is tiny. Let's say 1 in 100. So 99 people free up beds by going home early and 1 could end up having to be readmitted. And you think that one bed would outweigh the 99 free beds.

You must really struggle with basic logic and risk assessment.

@boysforyoueh has been told she must have someone there to collect her for a very valid reason @ouch321 . Why are you struggling with that ? Why do you think you know better than to take professional advice?

Thanks for all the advice; has been very helpful!

I think some people were indeed OTT though! Rang the department today and they said if I'm insistent that I have nobody then that is okay and I can go

I said would I have to sign a disclaimer? They said no.

So it can't be that serious then. I discharged myself against advice in maternity once and had to sign for that so it isn't so serious that I even had to sign or would have to rather

There you go ... ignore all the doom-mongers.

All this 'insist' and 'not allow' and in one case 'call security ' .... it's not a prison!

The GA is in your system for a while after your op. You could have a dizzy spell at home, resulting in injury.
I have a friend who did lie about having someone at home to look after him. Option was to stay longer in hospital or not have the op (he was in a lot of pain and needed it).

You could have a dizzy spell at home, resulting in injury.

The op has someone at home, that's not the issue. There's very little difference risk wise between the op getting a taxi home and someone the op knows (husband ,friend etc.) driving her home.

Why is it? It clearly says on all the documents you get off surgery that this is the case.

Someone being at home isn't the issue though. I won't be alone

As long as you are Not driving yourself (everyone is right to be "OTT" about that!) and if you have the cash to pay the taxi driver a clean up fee if you throw up, go for a taxi if the hospital are happy.

But please stop minimising a GA. It's very serious drugs. You are basically under the influence of drugs. It is serious. You don't know how you are going to react. Even if you have had GAs before. This could be totally different.

And I do think if all this is to save £40, you need to seriously have a think. What if you go down hill after getting home and have to be readmitted to hospital? Do you have the cash to persuade another taxi to transfer you while very ill?

The advice you got on finding help outside is very sound. You are in a vulnerable position with what you say are limited finances, in a rural area, without any friends or family and your DH can neither drive nor accompany you and you have a disabled child. Those are all huge things.

Yes. I had a GA and was under for about 3-4 hours. I was in the recovery room for around 2 hours and then DH took me home. I was off work for 4 weeks but otherwise fine.

Rang the department today and they said if I'm insistent that I have nobody then that is okay and I can go

I said would I have to sign a disclaimer? They said no.

It will probably be fine, but if it isn't they have left themselves exposed by failing to follow their own discharge process.

Glad your sorted OP. Not ideal travelling home on your own but needs must and at least you will still be able to have your procedure. Hope it all goes well for you.