My practice is centred on the comfort of your child, so no painful procedures are carried out in the rooms.  Please don’t tell your children to “behave or the doctor will give them an injection!” I don’t have any needles and my interaction with your child becomes impossible if they are afraid of me.

Most small procedures are day cases. This means that you will bring your child to the hospital on the day of operation and they will be discharged on the same day. It is advisable to bring a change of clothes and some toiletries, just in case your child is required to stay overnight. You will be supplied with written post-op instructions and a follow up appointment date.

We need hungry tummies in theatre. This can be very distressing for both parents and children, but it is very important to adhere to the feeding guidelines before entering theatre. When your child is anaesthetised, all of their body, including the stomach and reflexes relax. If there is any food or fluid in the child’s stomach, it will flow up the food pipe and down into the lungs and drown him/her. We must be very strict about this, even though your child might be crying for food. We understand that this is distressing and we try our best to arrange the operating times list in such a way that the smallest children are operated on first and everyone gets fed as close to operating time as possible, but life happens and this may not always go according to plan.

Solid food and formula milk – 6 hours pre-op
Breast milk – 4 hours pre-op
Clear sweet liquids – 2 hours pre-op.

This can be black tea with sugar, apple juice, grape juice etc. If you can read the newspaper through the juice, your child can have it. Please check with us if you are not sure …and to confirm the amount of juice that your child is allowed to have.

N.B. – Please be aware that if you do not adhere to the feeding guidelines, your child’s operation will be deferred or cancelled completely. We must ensure the safety of your child at all times.

We want your child to be as comfortable as possible in theatre, so they may come dressed in whatever they prefer. We will dress them in hospital clothes when they are asleep. They may bring a favourite toy or blanket into theatre with them. For children older than 6 months, one parent or guardian may accompany the child into theatre and stay until they are asleep. For children younger than this, the benefit of parental presence is not as significant. If it is an emergency operation, you may not be allowed to come into theatre with your child. Our priority, as always, is the safety of your child. We usually use a mask and gas to put your child under anaesthetic. If a drip is required, we insert this after your child is asleep.