Westmead Hospital

Welcome to Westmead Hospital. We understand you may be very nervous about your upcoming surgery and have a lot of questions. In this video, we will show you our hospital and explain what is going to happen at various steps of your surgical journey with us and what you can do to make a quicker recovery.

Transcript in different languages for Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Journey video

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Preparing for surgery

• bring x-rays that are related to your surgery
• please shower or bath on the morning of your procedure
• do not drink alcohol or smoke for twelve hours before your procedure
• Fasting (no food or solids) is essential prior to sedation or a general anaesthesia:
• for adults having an elective procedure, limited non-fatty solid food may be taken up to six hours prior to anaesthesia
• Learn about our Sip Til Send initiative, which allows patients to sip approved clear liquids every hour until their surgery
• prescribed medications may be taken with a sip of water less than two hours prior to anaesthesia unless otherwise directed
• some people may have medical conditions which require specific or different instructions and, if this applies to you, these instructions will be given to you by your doctor

• you will need to make your own arrangements for transport with relatives/friends to and from the hospital
• bring your current medication with you
• please bring toiletries, night clothes, dressing gown, slippers, x-rays related to your surgery or procedure
• do not wear make-up, nail polish or jewellery
• do not bring valuable items or money to hospital
• wear loose comfortable clothing that can be easily changed
• also bring comfy day clothes and footwear – we recommend getting up, wearing day clothes and moving, to End PJ Paralysis and get better sooner.

Inform reception staff of your arrival. You will be asked to take a seat in the waiting room.  Please note: this is arrival time only, there will be some waiting involved before your procedure. We advise you to make no other plans for this day.

We also advise that emergencies/unforseen events occasionally occur in the theatre of surgery. If this occurs, you will be rescheduled for another date (as advised by your surgeon).

If you are accompanied by a support person he/she may be permitted into the ward depending on your condition and course of recovery.

You will be required to complete a patient assessment form with a nurse prior admission.

If you are unwell prior to surgery, please go to your general practitioner to assess whether you are well enough for surgery. If you are not well enough for surgery, please phone (02) 8890 6644. 

Admission staff will make every effort to contact you by telephone to process your admission details. If they have not made contact and you have not yet given your personal details to admission staff, you are required to attend the Admissions Office, situated in the main foyer of the hospital, prior to the date of your procedure. You must bring your current Medicare card and private health fund details or your veterans affairs card.  

If you are not eligible for treatment under the Australian Medicare Agreement, you must pay all costs prior to admission, if you have indicated your intention to be treated as a private patient but do not have private health insurance, you must make arrangements relating to the payment of your hospital stay prior to admission.

The inpatient meal times are as follows (meals are served during these periods):

• Breakfast: 7:00am – 8:15am
• Morning Tea: 10:00am – 11am
• Lunch: 12:00pm – 1:15pm
• Afternoon Tea: 2:30pm – 3:30pm
• Dinner: 5:30pm – 6:45pm
• Supper: 7:15pm – 8:15pm

Recently, NSW Health announced its plan to move NSW Health facilities towards providing healthier food and drink options for staff and visitors.

One of the first initiatives is to remove all sugary drinks with no nutritional value, such as soft drinks, from sale by December 2017.

The overall aim of the new healthy food framework is to support our staff and visitors to make healthy food and drink choices by increasing healthy options and decreasing less healthy options from sale/catered events.

The framework doesn’t apply to patients, or foods and drinks brought in by staff and visitors from outside our hospitals.

Westmead Hospital was the first Sydney hospital to trial the removal of sugary drinks in its vending machines and cafes.

Over the coming months, all health facilities across western Sydney and NSW will remove sugary drinks from sale.

For more information, visit Healthy Food and Drink Framework.

Your Rights and Responsibilities as a patient, carer or community member of the Western Sydney Local Health District