Having an operation
What to expect
Your letter from the hospital will tell you the date and time of your appointment or operation, and where to go.
It may be a ward, an admission clinic or a day surgery unit. If you are unsure where to go when you arrive, ask at the main reception or information desk. This will be in the hospital's main foyer.
You may be asked to attend a pre-admission clinic about 1 to 2 weeks before going into hospital. Staff at the clinic will do a thorough health check and tell you about your treatment. They might do some blood tests. These clinics mean most patients can be admitted to hospital on the morning of their treatment instead of the day before.
Surgeries and wait lists
To have surgery in a public Queensland hospital you need to be:
How surgeries are scheduled
Your GP usually determines what medical treatment you need to manage your condition and symptoms.
If your GP thinks you need to see a medical specialist, you may be referred to the public health system. Your GP will send a referral letter about your condition and treatment to the closest hospital that can help you.
Your referral will be reviewed and assessed by the hospital. If it is accepted, you will be put on a waiting list to see a specialist. A medical specialist is a doctor who has completed advanced education and clinical training in a specialty area of medicine.
Wait times for initial outpatient appointments vary between hospitals.
Find out more about wait lists.
Day surgery
A lot of operations are day surgery procedures. You will be admitted to hospital (usually in the morning), have the procedure and then you will be able to go home that afternoon or early evening.
If you are having a day surgery procedure, you may need someone to pick you up from the hospital afterwards.
Health changes while waiting for surgery
If you believe your medical condition has changed, see your GP and ask them to re-assess you. If they agree it has changed, they’ll write to the hospital and ask them to review your urgency category.
If you need to cancel or delay surgery
If you need to cancel or change the date of your surgery at any stage, please phone the hospital using the number on the letter you received.
Let us know if your contact details have changed
You must tell the hospital if your contact details change.
If you permanently move to another state or territory, you need to arrange to have your name added to the surgery wait list in your new town. Let the hospital where you are currently waiting for surgery know you have moved.
If you have moved within Queensland since being added to the elective surgery wait list, you will be transferred to a wait list at a hospital that is closer to where you live if:
- you are a semi-urgent (category 2) or non-urgent (category 3) urgency category
- you have moved more than 50 km from the hospital where you are currently waitlisted. All hospitals manage their own surgery wait list. It takes time and resources to transfer people from one wait list to another. For this reason, we will only arrange for patients to be transferred if there is good reason to do so. You may be asked to provide proof of your address change to the hospital that accepts you on to their wait list
- a public hospital close to your new home offers the surgery you need. Each hospital has surgeons with different skills and different equipment. Unless there is a public hospital with the right staff and equipment to perform your surgery we cannot transfer you to a wait list at this hospital.
Surgery Connect
Surgery Connect helps us deliver more surgery for more patients sooner.
Patients on the public hospital wait list who have been waiting longer, or are expected to wait longer than recommended for their surgery, may have their care transferred to Surgery Connect.
Travel and accommodation costs
If you need to travel to have surgery, you may be able to apply for assistance under the Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme.