Before your visit
Please check your arrival instructions before your child's procedure.
Some children have their procedures performed at the Greenlane Surgical Unit (GSU). We will be developing this site further for GSU, but in the meantime, please make sure you come to the right place!
Many children are seen in an outpatient appointment at Starship before they come in to have their operation or procedure. At that appointment, the surgeon will examine your child and talk to you about whether they need to have an operation.
If an operation is needed, the surgeon will explain what they plan to do and start making arrangements for your visit to the Operating Rooms. They may not be able to give you a date for your surgery at the time of your outpatient appointment, but someone from the department will be in touch later to arrange a date and time.
If you have instructions to go to the Operating Rooms without an outpatient appointment, don’t panic! There are many reasons why this may have happened. Examples include
:
Your child may have seen a surgeon at another hospital
Some medical procedures or investigations can be done (e.g. gastroscopy) following a referral from your GP without having an outpatient appointment at Starship
Some common and minor operations are arranged based on information given by another doctor. In this case, you and your child will meet the surgeon on the day of surgery. Examples of this might be hernia surgery or gastroscopy.
You should receive a letter telling you about the planned operation or procedure, when to arrive at the hospital and where you should go. You will also receive important information about when your child needs to stop eating and drinking before their operation. If you do not have this letter, or do not understand the procedure or instructions, please call us.
Your child’s condition may change before their planned procedure. If the reason for surgery has got better or worse, please contact us. If they have an illness such as a cold or tummy bug, or been seen in hospital within two weeks of their planned procedure, please also let us know, even if they appear to be better.
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