Day surgery patients

Every year, around 13,000 patients have a procedure or operation at our Day Surgery Unit. Day Surgery is an operation or surgical procedure that does not involve an overnight stay in hospital.

We care for both adults and children.

Location of the Day Surgery Unit

The Day Surgery Unit is in Arthur Levin building. It has a reception desk on the ground floor. Please see:

Preparing for your procedure

Please read our leaflet, Having a day surgery procedure. It includes important information like:

when to stop eating before your operation
what to expect during your stay and when you go home
advice for carers on making arrangements for your transport home
your care after the procedure.

Postponing or cancelling your procedure

If you need to postpone, please do so before the day of your procedure if possible.

To postpone before the day of your procedure, use the admissions contact details on your admission letter.
To postpone on the day of your procedure, phone the Day Surgery Unit on 020 3299 3483.

On the day

The Day Surgery Unit is open from 7.40am.

Due to limited space, you will not be able to have carer or family member stay with you in the Day Surgery Unit unless your pre-admission assessment nurse has advised this would be useful for you.

For children having a procedure, only one parent or carer can attend. It is important that you can give full attention to your child undergoing surgery, therefore please do not bring any other siblings.

You should expect to be with us for about four to six hours from your admission time. Your admission time is not the same as your operation time, and you might have to wait before you have your procedure. There are a number of checks we have to perform before your surgery, and you will be seen by multiple healthcare professionals relevant to your type of surgery.

You will be on an operating list with up to eight other patients and the list order will be determined on the day, according to clinical need.

When you are ready to be discharged we will phone your escort. You will be discharged by a member of the nursing team, not by your operating surgeon.

After discharge

If you need advice after you have gone home:

Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm (not including bank holidays), please call the ward on 020 3299 2188 to speak to the nurse-in-charge.
Out of hours, please call 111. If it is urgent please go to your local emergency department.

Further information

You can use our website to find out more about the services at King’s, consent for operations, and what we do with patient information.