Preparing for your Child’s Surgery

Welcome to Sidra Medicine!

Please read the instructions below on preparing for your child’s Surgery.

  • Make sure you understand your planned Surgery and leaflet received before leaving the clinic
  • Ensure all questions about the surgery have been answered by your surgeon.
  • Your child may need additional tests such as:
    • Laboratory Investigations
    • Radiology Investigations
  • The healthcare team will contact you by phone if the investigation requires treatment before the surgery.
  • You might need to get medicine from the pharmacy if indicated.
  • Make sure to follow the plan thoroughly, as this might affect the schedule of your surgery.
  • Your child must take a shower or bath on the day of the surgery before coming to the hospital.

How to book your child’s surgery date?

The Operating Rooms (OR) scheduling team will contact you to book your child’s surgery date.

What happen one day before your child’s surgery?

One day before the procedure, you will receive a call from a nurse who will give the following information:

  • The arrival time to the Day Surgery Unit
  • Fasting instructions
  • What to bring with you  

 You must arrive on time on the day of the Surgery to ensure adequate preparation time prior to going into the Operating Theatre. Please plan your journey to Sidra considering road traffic congestion or anything that might cause delays to Sidra.

What happens if you arrive after your appointment time?

 Your child’s procedure may be canceled.

PAT (Pre -Admission Testing) Appointment

You will be referred by your child’s surgeon to PAT before the surgery date. At PAT registration, you might be required to pay a registration fee. Sidra Medicine is a cashless facility; payments are expected to be made using a bank card online payment link.

  • During PAT assessment, the nurse will do screening for MRSA. If your child has a high risk, swabs will be taken from the nose, throat, and groin. MRSA is a type of bacterial infection that will need to be treated by antibiotics before the surgery.
  • The healthcare team will contact you if the investigation requires treatment before the surgery.
  • Your health care provider will let you know if your child may require Covid testing.
  • To Contact PAT:
  • Sundays -Thursdays. From7 AM to3:15pm, please call +974 4003 1859
  • After 3 PM, call Day Surgery Unit +974 4003 1792
  • After 7:45 PM, contact Sidra Medicine call center +974 4003 3333

Eating and Drinking Instructions

Follow these steps when to stop eating and/or drinking before your surgery:

Water and clear apple juice

Stop drinking 1 hour before surgery.

Breast milk

Stop feeding 4 hours before surgery.

Light meal (toast and a clear liquid)

 Stop eating 6 hours before surgery.

Meat, fried and fatty foods (solids)  

Stop eating 6 hours before surgery.

Formula milk /Milk

Stop drinking 6 hours before surgery.

You need to tell the anesthesiologist- Doctor responsible for giving sedative medicine and supervise patient care before, during, and after surgery- in detail what your child ate and drank on the day of the surgery. The anesthesiologist may delay or cancel the procedure if it is unsafe to proceed.

Medicine

Inform the nurse or anesthesiologist about all the medicine(s) your child is taking. This includes any vitamins, supplements or over the counter medicine.

DSU (Day Surgery Unit)-Day of the procedure

  • DSU staff will keep your surgeon informed of MRSA results. If positive, you will receive a phone call from nursing staff indicating that you need to collect the prescribed medication/ ointment.
  • If you do not have a PAT appointment, DSU will screen your child and may swab for MRSA on the day of surgery.
  • Depending on your financial status, you may be asked to pay at DSU discharge or inpatient discharge.
  • Please inform DSU staff if your child feels unwell or has any of the following symptoms:
    • Cough
    • Fever
    • Runny nose
    • Diarrhea

Where is Day Surgery Unit located?

Sidra Medicine Day Surgery Unit is located in the Main Hospital Building (Tower B, 1st floor)

Phone number: +974 4003 1754

Working days: Sunday - Thursday

Time: 6:30 AM - 7:30 PM

If you are calling after 7:30PM, please contact Sidra Medicine Call Center: +974 4003 3333

Patient Identification

On the day of the procedure, a parent or legal guardian (with an official letter) must come with your child.  Parents and child must bring identification on the day of the procedure.

The following are accepted forms of Identification:

  • Valid QID (is a must)
  • Passport
  • Birth certificate

Valuables

Sidra Medicine will not be responsible for any lost personal items. Valuables should be left at home or removed by a relative or guardian.  Personal property brought into Sidra Medicine is your responsibility. Please keep all personal items with you at all times.

Financial Counseling

If you have any questions about fees and payments, please contact a Financial Counselor at 4003 0899 or Financialcounseling@sidra.org.