What happens if I need surgery
Once you and your consultant have decided that Surgery is the best option for you and you have discussed a suitable date, then we will contact you to advise on the following.
Some of the more complex spinal conditions may require a review with our MDT, That is your Consultants Neurosurgical colleagues who will review your notes and scan images and advise what they feel is the best course of treatment. This ensures that your Consultant is making the correct decision about your treatment.
For self-funding patients, we will call you to confirm the price of your procedure and if happy to proceed.
Once confirmed and for insured patients,
we will formally book the procedure with the Inpatient team, if your consultant hasn’t already done so, we will check if you have medications that you may need to stop prior to surgery.
For compliance with the Competition and Markets Authority, we will let you know how much your Consultant will be reimbursed for this procedure. For insured patients, we will give you the procedure code so that you may get in touch with your Insurance provider and discuss what your level of cover is.
We will send you an Information sheet on the procedure for you to read at home. It is important that you take the time to do this as we will then ask you to return to clinic usually 1 week prior to your surgery for your formal consent meeting. This is your opportunity to discuss that information with your Consultant so that you fully understand the risks associated with your surgery and the implications and we gain your consent to proceed. We will include a date for this consent meeting in the information that we will send to you.
All patients having a General anaesthetic will require a Preassessment meeting with our nurses. The hospitals surgical bookings team will be in touch with you to arrange this appointment. Our nurses will take some blood and may do some other tests as directed by your Consultant and our anaesthetist to ensure that you are fit and well enough for surgery. Occasionally some patients with additional health issues may require an assessment with our Anaesthetist also.
A pack will be sent to you by the hospitals surgical bookings Team will that will cover the details of when to come into hospital, what to bring, when to stop eating and drinking etc. The Nurses at your preadmission clinic can also advise on this.
For Insured patients, in due course we will call your Provider to ensure that there are no issues with cover and to answer any clinical questions that they may have that you maybe can’t answer. However it is hugely helpful if you can start the process with them to ensure a quicker authorisation process.
At any stage, please call us to ask anything you are unsure about.
