This page follows the whole sequence from your clinic appointment to going home: how the surgery date is arranged, what the pre-assessment involves, which medications need declaring — and the important point that you should not stop any of them until you are told to. It then covers what happens on the day, who takes your consent, when you meet the anaesthetist, what to expect on the ward, and what discharge looks like. Nothing here should be a surprise on the day. If anything is unclear, it is always reasonable to ask before you come in.
Last reviewed: August 2026 · Dr Lawrence Okiror FRCS(CTh) FRCSEd(CTh) · GMC 6150382
Tell the pre-admission team about every medication, especially blood thinners — but do not stop anything until you are given a specific instruction and a date.
Dr Okiror goes through the operation with you again after admission and takes your consent himself. An interpreter is arranged if you need one.
Ward review daily until you are discharged, with a named consultant colleague covering when he is away.
If an operation is agreed, you will be given a surgery date at London Bridge Hospital or The Lister Hospital Chelsea.
You will also be pointed to written information about your condition and treatment — usually on this website — either at the appointment itself or shortly afterwards. Very little of what is said in a consultation is retained on the day, particularly when the news is unexpected. Reading about it afterwards, in your own time, with whoever you want beside you, is a better way to understand it. Patient information →
If you have private medical insurance, you will be given the procedure codes you need in order to obtain authorisation. If you are paying for yourself, you will have a written quote covering the hospital, surgeon and anaesthetist fees before your admission. Both are set out on the fees and insurance page.
The hospital’s pre-admission team will contact you directly to arrange it. They will take a full medical history and drug history, and arrange routine pre-operative tests — usually blood tests and routine swabs.
It is a practical appointment rather than a clinical decision-making one, but it matters more than it looks. It is the point at which most avoidable problems get picked up — a medication that needs stopping, a test that needs repeating, something in your history that changes the plan for the day. Answer fully, even about things that seem irrelevant.
All of them. Bring a list, or your repeat prescription. Tell the pre-admission team, and raise them again at your clinic consultation with Dr Okiror.
Two groups matter particularly, and it is worth naming them specifically so that nothing is left out:
Such as rivaroxaban, edoxaban, apixaban or warfarin.
Such as aspirin, clopidogrel or ticagrelor.
Do not stop any medication until you have been told to, and not before the date you have been given.
Stopping a blood thinner or antiplatelet without instruction can be dangerous. The right timing depends on the medicine, on the operation, and on your own medical history — it is not the same for everyone. Dr Okiror will give you specific instructions about which medications to stop and exactly when. You will also be told when to restart them.
If you are unsure whether something counts — a supplement, an occasional painkiller, something prescribed by another specialist — declare it anyway. It is far easier to discount something than to discover it on the morning of an operation.
You will be given an admission date and time, and told where to report.
Bring with you:
Fasting. If your operation is under general anaesthetic you will be given specific instructions about when to stop eating and drinking. The timings depend on when your operation is scheduled, so follow the instructions you are given rather than a general rule you have read elsewhere. If anything is unclear, telephone the pre-admission team rather than guessing.
Dr Okiror does, personally. After you are admitted he will see you, go through the details of the operation again, answer any questions, and take your signed consent. It is deliberately a second conversation rather than a first — things occur to people between clinic and admission, and this is the point to raise them.
If you need an interpreter, one will be arranged for you. A professional interpreter, rather than a family member. Consent should not depend on a relative translating difficult information under pressure, and it is not fair to ask that of them.
Bringing someone with you is welcome. It is often the person who was with you who remembers the answer afterwards.
Before your operation. The consultant anaesthetist will see you and explain the general anaesthetic, your medical history as it affects it, and — just as importantly — how your pain will be managed afterwards.
That second part is worth paying attention to. Pain control after chest surgery is planned deliberately in advance rather than improvised afterwards, because being comfortable enough to breathe deeply and move about is a large part of how well recovery goes. This is the conversation in which it is set up, so it is the moment to say if you have had difficulty with pain relief or with anaesthetics before. More on pain relief after thoracic surgery.
You will have been given an estimate of your length of stay before admission, based on the operation you are having. Most people go home when expected. Some need a few more days, and if that happens it will be explained to you at the time rather than left to be worked out from the ward round.
Dr Okiror reviews his patients on the ward every day until they are discharged. The occasional exception is a Sunday, for someone who has already been in hospital several days and is recovering well.
When he is away, a named consultant thoracic surgical colleague covers his patients, and you will be told who that is. You are never without a consultant responsible for your care.
You will be given written discharge instructions and usually some additional medication — most often painkillers. These are not intended for the long term, and you will be told roughly how long you are likely to need them.
Your usual medications will be restarted as appropriate, and you will be told when. If anything you normally take was stopped before the operation, do not restart it on your own initiative — the instruction will be given to you, and if it has not been, ask before you leave.
An outpatient clinic appointment will be arranged for after you go home. General guidance on the weeks that follow is on the recovery after lung surgery page.
You may well be, and it is genuinely useful rather than a formality.
Dr Okiror has confidence in the hospitals he works in, but the only way to know whether the service actually met your expectations is to ask you. If something fell short, he would rather hear it, so that it can be put right. If something went well, he would be grateful to know that too — it is just as useful, and it is passed on to the people who did it. The same route is used either way, whatever you have to say.
Practical questions asked by patients between agreeing to an operation and coming into hospital for it.
Contact the Practice →Or call Jo Mitchelson:
020 7952 2882
Questions about medications, timing, what to bring or what to expect are always reasonable, and are better answered in advance than on the morning of your operation. Jo Mitchelson can answer most of them or pass them to Dr Okiror.
Jo Mitchelson, PA · 020 7952 2882 · pa@lungsurgeon.co.uk
St Thomas’ Hospital #1 UK · Guy’s Hospital #2 UK · London Bridge Hospital #10 UK · Newsweek World’s Best Hospitals 2026
Three separate fees, insurance authorisation, and written quotes on request
Recovery After Lung SurgeryThe weeks after you go home — breathing, activity, driving and returning to work
Pain Relief After Thoracic SurgeryHow pain is planned for in advance, and the options available
Fitness for Lung SurgeryThe tests that establish whether an operation is safe for you
Patient InformationPlain-English guides to the conditions Dr Okiror treats
LocationsLondon Bridge Hospital, The Lister Chelsea, Canary Wharf and the City