"They are marvellous with you while you're in but the aftercare is rubbish" : patient experiences of day surgery

Abstract: A study was undertaken to explore the perceptions of patients and their families undergoing day surgery Methods: 145 patients and 100 carers from 2 different day surgery units were interviewed on three occasions: in pre-operative assessment clinic, 48 hours after surgery, and one month after surgery. Semi-structured interviews were conducted tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed Results: Overwhelmingly the carers were highly satisfied with day surgery. However 32 patients raised some concerns. These centred mainly on the perceived lack of care after the patients were discharged. Only 9 carers reported negative experiences they had encountered on the day of surgery. 5 of these involved incidents related to the anaesthetic and four related to other unexpected events happening on the day of surgery, Conclusions Although this was a relatively small sample of patients further studies need to be undertaken to ascertain patients and carers responses regarding care after discharge. As the complexity of surgical procedures are set to increase it is important that patients have access to adequate support following discharge