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Current as of Tuesday, 09 July 2024.
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Guide to getting ready for surgery in Hunter New England
Going home after surgery in a Hunter New England hospital
Going home
During your time in hospital, your healthcare team will discuss a date for you to return home. Before you leave, we will provide you with information you may need to continue your care at home.
This includes:
- medicines you may need to take
- care instructions to follow
- exercise and rehabilitation plans
- follow-up appointments with your GP or surgeon
- other follow-up care you may need.
Our staff might refer to this process as ‘discharge’.
Extra support for going home
Our physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers can assess what you need to return home safely. This could include driving restrictions; help for walking or equipment you may need to manage at home. They may talk to you about other services that could help you once you are home. Check that any of your pre-hospital support services will start again after going home from hospital.
If you need to be transferred to another hospital or a residential care home to continue your recovery and care, we will discuss this with you and your family. Transport home by ambulance is only available if medically needed. You will need to make your own arrangements for your return home. If you have any issues organising transport you can discuss this with your healthcare team.
Expect a follow-up phone call from us
Most patients who are discharged from our hospitals will receive a follow-up phone call within 2 days after leaving hospital. We will check how you are feeling, if you understood and are following your discharge instructions, and whether you are taking your prescribed medications correctly. It is a chance for you to ask questions, confirm information you are unsure of and to provide feedback regarding the care you received.
When you are back at home
Find out more about what to do when you are back home and what to look out for if you are feeling unwell.
Help at home
When you are ready to go home, we want to make sure you return home safely:
- If you have had day surgery, you must have someone stay with you that first night.
- If you don’t have a family member or friend who can pick you up and stay with you, tell the hospital staff before your surgery. We want you to be safe afterwards.
- You might also need someone to help you in the days and weeks after surgery. This could be a family member, friend or even a neighbour.
- Your doctor will tell you when you can get back to activities such as driving or exercise.
What if I am feeling unwell?
You need to see a doctor if you feel unwell, have severe pain or notice that something doesn’t look quite right. The doctor could be your local GP, your specialist or you might need to go to your nearest emergency department if you are very unwell or in severe pain.
Contact your GP or specialist
It is important that you contact your GP or specialist if you notice:
- redness around your wound
- pain that is not controlled with your prescribed pain medication
- increasing swelling around the surgery area
- a bad smell or pus coming from the wound
- broken stitches or the wound opens up
- feeling hot or cold, or having a fever
- constipation or trouble with bowel movements
- anything that is worrying you or your family after surgery.
Blood clots
Surgery can put you at risk of developing blood clots. The symptoms of blood clots (or deep vein thrombosis) may include:
- pain and tenderness in the leg
- pain when extending your foot
- swelling of the lower leg, ankle and foot
- skin that is red and warm.
It is very important that you contact a doctor if you notice any of these symptoms. The doctor can be your GP, specialist or a doctor in an emergency department. If you cannot see a doctor urgently, have someone drive you to the nearest emergency department or phone 000 for emergency help.
Give your feedback
Share your hospital experience – good or bad. Your feedback helps us improve. Call 1800 605 172 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am-5pm), email HNELHD-SRC@health.nsw.gov.au, or write to Strategic Relations and Communication, Locked Bag 1, New Lambton 2305.
