Your questions answered on waiting for your surgery appointment:
- How long will I be waiting for my surgery?
- How much notice will I be given for my surgery?
- Do I need a pre-operative assessment?
- When will I get my pre-operative assessment?
- How many times can I cancel my surgery?
- Where will I have my surgery?
- Can I book a holiday if I am waiting for my surgery?
- What if I am unwell before my surgery?
- What happens when the hospital cancel my surgery ‘at the last minute’?
- Further information
How long will I be waiting for my surgery?
All of our orthopaedic consultants each have different lengths of waiting times for their speciality.
The Orthopaedic Waiting List Co-ordinators will contact you when they have a suitable date for your surgery.
If you have not heard from us after 12 months of you signing your consent form (being added to the waiting list), please do not hesitate to contact us. We may not be able to give you a date for surgery; however, we will do our best to give you some idea of how long your wait might be.
How much notice will I be given for my surgery?
The waiting list co-ordinators are advised to arrange surgery with a maximum of 6 weeks’ notice.
However, some consultants and specialists are able to extend their availability within theatre, or spaces become available due to cancellations. In these cases, we may be able to contact you to arrange surgery with shorter notice.
Do I need a pre-operative assessment?
If your consultant states that you are having anything other than local anaesthetic, then you will be asked to attend a pre-operative assessment appointment.
When will I get my pre-operative assessment?
Our co-ordinators usually do not issue a pre-operative assessment appointment until you have been allocated a date for surgery, unless stated otherwise. This is normally a few weeks before your surgery date.
This appointment is sent from our central pre-assessment team, not the Orthopaedic team.
How many times can I cancel my surgery?
We offer patients a choice of at least two dates with a minimum of three weeks’ notice.
However, if dates are offered with less than three weeks’ notice and the patient chooses to accept a date, this constitutes an acceptable offer.
Your consultant will be informed of the cancellations and will clinically review your case and may advise you to return to your GP until you are ready / available for surgery.
Where will I have my surgery?
The Trust has three hospital sites:
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Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI)
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Bassetlaw Hospital
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Montagu Hospital
We can offer your surgery at any site, but not all procedures are undertaken on all sites.
Whilst every effort will be made to accommodate patient requests, please be aware that not accepting a particular site for your surgery will be regarded as a decline of offer. Remember, you are only offered two dates for surgery.
Can I book a holiday if I am waiting for my surgery?
As a Trust, we acknowledge that your life does carry on with or without your surgery.
If you have holidays already arranged, please let your consultant know so they can document these as unavailable for the waiting list co-ordinators.
Once you are on the waiting list, we advise you to avoid arranging any further holidays, as we can only offer you two reasonable dates.
If you cannot attend these dates, this may result in a discharge and you will be returned to your GP until you are ready for surgery.
Please note: Holiday destinations that require flying will also affect your surgery waiting time due to the risks of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis / blood clots).
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You will need a minimum of 4 weeks before the day of flying
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And 4 weeks from the day of landing
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If your flight is long haul (3 hours or above), you will need a minimum of 4 weeks before day of flying and 4 weeks from the day of landing.
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If your flight is long haul (3 hours and above) then this will be 6 weeks.
What if I am unwell before my surgery?
If you happen to fall ill in the weeks or days before your surgery date, please let us know. In the cases of certain respiratory viruses, diarrhoea and vomiting, open wounds, cuts or blisters to your operative site or limb, you may be advised not to attend and (when available) will be offered a new date. With this action, it will help us to prevent and control the spread of infections. Please also contact us if you develop any cough, cold or fever a few days before your surgery and we can liaise with your consultant who can advise if your surgery can still go ahead.
What happens when the hospital cancel my surgery ‘at the last minute’?
Within the department of Orthopaedics, we also run alongside a very busy Orthopaedic trauma unit.
This means that all dates given are actually provisional dates and could possibly be cancelled at short notice or the last minute.
(Last minute means: on the day of your surgery or after you have arrived/admitted to hospital)
As trauma care is due to emergency admissions through the Emergency Department, service levels can be unpredictable.
Cancelling elective patients is always a last resort and we try to avoid this as much as possible. We really do appreciate the arrangements you have made for your admission, however some emergency and other elective cases may take a clinical priority.
Any decisions made by our dedicated team of professionals are all assessed with the safety of all our patients.
Further information
For any other waiting list information, please call: 01302 644511 / 01909 572144
This is an enquiry line for patients who already have dates for surgery. If you do not have dates for surgery, please be assured that co-ordinators will contact you when a date becomes available.
As the service is clinical, there may be times we are unavailable to answer your call straight away. If so, please leave your name, date of birth and a short message and we will return your call as soon as we can.
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