Radiology - Attending the Radiology Day Case Unit at Salford Royal Hospital

Introduction

Welcome to the Radiology Day Case Unit at Salford Royal Hospital.

A stay in hospital, however brief, can be a daunting prospect. To make your stay with us as pleasant as possible, we have produced this leaflet for you. It contains general information about your admission, procedure and discharge.

What you need to know

You need to make arrangements for a responsible adult to take you home by car or taxi. You need to be looked after by a responsible adult for 24 hours following discharge home.

If you cannot attend for your procedure, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can offer the appointment to another waiting patient.

Your radiology procedure will involve you being in the Radiology Day Case Unit for a number of hours and there are no facilities for your relatives or visitors to stay with you. Please inform your escort home that you will contact them when you are ready to go home. Please ensure that you have the correct telephone number for your escort.

If you require a carer to assist you with your needs, please inform the Radiology Ward Clerk when you arrive in the Radiology Day Case Unit.

If you know that you have difficulty communicating, an interpreter can be booked and will attend the unit with you on the day. The radiology booking team will arrange the interpreter when your appointment is made. We cannot use a family member to interpret.

If for any reason it is felt that your procedure needs to be postponed for further investigation or treatment, or you need to be treated as an in-patient, we will discuss this with you and the appropriate arrangements will be made.

Please bring a paper or book to read whilst you are in the unit as there is no television facility.

Day of Admission to the Interventional Radiology Day Case Unit

You will have been given instructions before your admission about nil by mouth instructions to follow, please ensure that you follow these instructions.

If sedation has already been discussed with you, you must not eat anything for six hours before your procedure. You may drink water up to two hours before your procedure. You will have been provided with these instructions before your admission.

Medications

Please bring all your medications with you including the times that you take them and the dosage.

Please ensure your medications are in their original package/box.

Please ensure you also bring any inhalers that you may be using.

If you normally take any medication in the mornings please continue to take them unless you have been instructed not to.

Continue to take your medication as normal following your discharge home.

Valuables

Please do not bring large sums of money or articles of great value with you. The Northern Care Alliance cannot accept responsibility for the loss of patients’ property.

Staff and Training

An important part of the role of the hospital is to train members of the health professions, which cannot be achieved without your co-operation. Medical students, student nurses, radiography students and other staff undergoing training in our hospitals are attached to the team responsible for your care. We hope that you will agree to co-operate with our students. If, however, you do not wish to take part in any medical, nursing, radiography, or other teaching work, you are entitled to refuse, without your treatment being affected. In this situation you should inform the nurse in charge of your care as soon as possible.

The Radiology Day Case Unit

On arrival you must report to the main reception desk. A nurse will then be allocated to look after you and plan your care during your stay. The nurse will explain more about the unit, prepare you for your procedure, and answer any questions you may have.

Prior to your procedure you will meet the Consultant Interventional Radiologist, and if you have not already done so, you will be asked to sign a consent form. If you normally wear glasses, please bring these with you, so you can read and sign the legal paperwork.

You will have a small plastic cannula (tube) placed in a vein in your arm and you may have some bloods taken. You will be asked to change into a hospital gown before your procedure.

Please be aware that your admission time is not your procedure time. Once seen by the radiology nurse and radiologist on the day of your procedure, you may then have a wait of one to two hours before your procedure. Please bring some reading material with you if you wish.

Your procedure will take place in an interventional procedure room such as Angiography, Ultrasound or Computerised Tomography (CT), depending on the type of procedure you are having. You will be escorted to the relevant department by a member of the team.

You will be assisted onto the bed where you will lie for the duration of the procedure. You will have a nurse looking after you throughout the procedure as well as the radiologist, radiographers, and support staff.

After the procedure

When your procedure is finished you will be transferred on to your trolley in the procedure room and taken back to the Radiology Day Case Unit where you started your journey. You will rest in bed whilst a nurse monitors your recovery from the procedure. You will spend between one and five hours in the Radiology Day Case Unit depending on the procedure that you have had.

Before you are discharged, you must feel well enough to go home and you must have completed the specified recovery period. You will have been offered a hot or cold drink and a snack whilst you are recovering.

Discharge

When we are happy to allow you to go home, you may arrange for someone to come and collect you. It is essential that a responsible adult accompanies you home.

You will be given some instructions to follow for the next 24 hours:

• Instructions about driving, operating machinery, making important decisions will be dependent upon the procedure that you have had
• Do not take strenuous exercise
• Do not drink alcohol
• Do not look after any dependents on your own
• We advise that you have a supply of painkillers at home

Local Anaesthetic

The effects of local anaesthetic should wear off within a few hours. If you feel any discomfort, take your usual painkillers.
 
It is advisable to rest at home for the remainder of the day. You may eat and drink normally.

You may be given painkillers before going home. Take these regularly as prescribed for the first 48 hours.

Sedation

If you have had sedation you should follow the instructions below, as these sedatives can stay in your body for 24 hours.

• Do not return to work, look after dependents, drive, or operate any machinery
• Be careful on your feet as sedation can make you feel unsteady
• Do not take any alcohol or sleeping tablets
• Do not make any important decisions or sign documents and be careful if using social media

Self-Certification

If employees are off work for 7 days or less, they do not need to give their employer a fit note or other proof of sickness from a healthcare professional. When they return to work, their employer can ask them to confirm they’ve been off sick. This is called ‘self-certification’. The employer and employee will agree on how the employee should do this. They might need to fill in a form or send details of their sick leave by email.

Correspondence

If we want to see you again, an out-patient appointment will be sent to you in the post. Before discharge, you will be given verbal and written information about your aftercare. For further information or to answer any queries you may have, please contact the Salford Radiology Day Case Unit, Monday – Friday between the hours of 8am - 8pm on 0161 206 8304.