Barts and The London Heart and Chest Centre | For patients | Staying in hospital
Staying in hospital
The wards that you will be treated on are all dedicated to patients with heart conditions, so you can be assured that the staff involved in your care are all experienced and dedicated to patients like you. Your treatment plan and ongoing care will be tailored to your individual needs, ensuring you get the best possible outcomes.
Click here for ward contact details.
If you are staying with us for treatment, we are committed to respecting your privacy and dignity and most of our wards have single-sex bays.
Before the operation
If you are coming in for surgery, when you arrive on the ward, a nurse will greet you and will show you around. You will be looked after by a named nurse who will oversee your care.
A doctor will visit you soon after you arrive. They will examine you and ask about your illness and answer any questions you may have. The operation will be explained to you and the benefits and risks involved will be discussed with you. You will be asked to sign a consent form, which gives us your permission for the operation to be carried out.
An anaesthetist will also visit you. This is the person that will put you to sleep and will help to look after you during your operation and afterwards if you need to go to the intensive care unit. Your suitability for anaesthesia will be assessed and you will be told about your anaesthetic.
If you have any concerns or questions during your stay, the doctors or nurses will be happy to help you. Even if they are busy, they will always try to make time to listen, make checks if they are needed and give you the information you need.
On the day of your operation, you will be given a tablet/tablets or an injection (or both) to prepare you for your anaesthetic. These will help you to feel relaxed, comfortable and sleepy. After this you will be expected to stay in bed until you go for your operation. On arrival in the operating theatre, an anaesthetist will meet you and will put you to sleep by giving you an injection in the back of your hand.
During the operation
During most heart operations a heart/lung bypass machine is used. This acts for the heart and lungs during the operation. Your blood flows through the machine where it receives oxygen and is then pumped back to the body, thus bypassing the heart. This allows your surgeon to stop your heart so that they can perform your operation.
After the operation
After some heart operations, you will immediately be transferred to the intensive treatment unit, where you will be cared for and closely observed, usually for six-24 hours. After this time you will usually be transferred to the high dependency or coronary care unit.
After heart surgery, it is likely that you will experience some pain or discomfort after your operation. You will be given regular pain relieving tablets and/or injections to help control the pain. You may also experience muscular aches and pains and some soreness as a result of lying in bed after the operation. The nurses and support staff will encourage you, wherever possible, to move your arms and legs to prevent lying in one position for long periods of time.
For information about how to prepare for your stay with us, including what you need to bring with you, please click here.
Please use the link below to download a guide to successful recovery from heart and chest surgery.
Download Guidelines for a successful recovery from heart and chest surgery.
Visitors
We positively encourage our patients to invite friends and relatives to visit them in hospital. Visiting hours vary, but all wards are open between to visitors between 9am and 5pm.
Overnight accomodation may be available for relatives of patients. We can also provide accomodation for patients who have to travel a long way to get to hospital for complex procedures but who don't need to be re-admitted to a ward. Please speak to a member of staff for further details.
