Coming into hospital- The John Charnley Wing

Coming into Hospital The John Charnley Wing 

Patient Information

John Charnley Wing, Wrightington Hospital

• Author ID:           SR
• Leaflet ref:          Musc 081
• Version:              1
• Leaflet title:         Coming into hospital
• Last review:        March 2023
• Expiry Date:        March 2025

The Day Before Surgery 

Our Preop Clinic will ring you the day before your surgery to confirm your admission time, fasting times and any medication advise given by the anaesthetist. They will also advise you on what to pack for your stay, this includes: 

• A dressing gown and slippers for your day of surgery to cover your hospital gown and keep you comfortable. 
• Toiletries that may be needed for usual daily hygiene. 
• 3 sets of day and night clothes for major operations. 
• An overnight bag for day cases/overnight stays. 
• A full pair of shoes to complete your physiotherapy. Loose fitting or shoes without full backs can create a risk of falling when mobilising with physiotherapy post operatively. 

Financial Queries 

The day before your surgery you will also be required to pay any outstanding balances for your surgery these will have been outlined in your package letter and an invoice will follow on discharge from the ward. Any financial queries you can contact the admission team and discuss this with them. On 01257 256265. 

Your Day of Surgery 

On your day of surgery, you will be admitted to the John Charnley Wing unless you have been instructed that you are being admitted onto the Orthopaedic Admissions Unit (OAU) by the preoperative clinic. We use OAU primarily at the weekends when we have the most admissions to ensure a smooth, safe, and effective admission experience for all of our patients. On admission, the nurses on the ward will complete the relevant admission documentation. They may also measure and fit your antiembolism stockings if required and obtain blood samples. You will then be seen by your consultant and your anaesthetist before the theatre team take you up to theatre for your surgery. 

Following Your Surgery 

On arrival back to the ward, you will be offered food and drinks and the ward staff will monitor your observations hourly for the first 4 hours and provide you with any medications required to keep you pain free and comfortable. 

If an epidural infusion is the type of anaesthetic required for your procedure, you would be admitted onto one our other wards in a 4 bedded bay for eyesight observation to ensure your safety. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible on JCW due to the layout of our ward. On removal of the epidural infusion, you would be transferred back to The John Charnley Wing to your original room, usually the following day. It is also sometimes requested that patients go to our Increased Dependency Area (IDA) post-operatively. Usually this is prearranged, and you would have been informed of this before surgery. 

Physiotherapy primarily starts the day after surgery. However, if you are having day case surgery or arrive back to the ward early it is possible to commence physiotherapy on the same day if you have regained full sensation and movement. The morning following your surgery the nurses on the ward will obtain blood samples to ensure everything is within normal parameters. If your blood results return without abnormalities and your surgical wound is intact and healing well, it is then ongoing physiotherapy to reach of their milestones prior to discharge from hospital. 

Day case Surgery

If you are having Day case surgery, you would still receive the same post operative care as those having major surgery with observations being taken hourly for 4 hours and the nurses ensuring you are free from pain and comfortable. However, you will see physiotherapy the same day with the aim to be discharged if you have met physiotherapy milestones and you are fit and well enough to be discharged from hospital. We do recommend bringing an overnight bag just in case. 

Get up and Get Moving 

As part of the ‘Get up, get dressed and get moving’ campaign you will be encouraged to get out of bed and dressed into day clothing each morning. Studies for the campaign have shown that by getting up and moving sooner you are reducing the risk of infection as well as the risk of losing muscle strength and mobility (Arora, 2019). 

Discharge 

When the physiotherapy team inform the nursing staff that you have reached each of their milestones and discharged from their service, the nursing staff will start the process of your discharge. Ward discharge is the process of getting discharge x-rays completed if necessary and obtaining discharge medications from pharmacy. 

On completion of the discharge process the nursing staff will provide you with your discharge letter. They will explain your discharge medications and also provide you with any follow up appointments/ district nurse forms for suture/clip removal if required. Nursing staff will inform you when the discharge process is nearing completion to allow time for contacting transport home. 

Visitors collecting patients from hospital are able to park at the main entrance and come to the John Charnley Wing to collect you. Those collecting you are kindly asked to obtain a wheelchair from the main entrance and bring it with them to the ward. A member of staff can help you to get into the wheelchair safely, pack up belongings and escort you down to your vehicle if required. 

Visiting Hours 

Visiting hours are open throughout the day on JCW between 11.00am and 19.00pm However, we prefer to protect mealtimes which may mean that visitors are kindly asked to leave at these times. 

Contact Details 

Ward: 01257 256267 

Outpatient Clinic: 01257 256412 

Email: JCW.OPD@WWL.NHS.UK 

References 

Arora, A. (2018, June 1). #EndPJParalysis: The revolutionary movement helping frail older people. NHS England. Retrieved December 29, 2022, from 

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2018/06/endpjparalysis-revolutionary-movement-helping-frailolder-people/