Patient guide · Anaesthesia and the day of surgery
What day case surgery means, why almost all our operations are done as day cases, what makes it safe, what happens on the day, and how your responsible adult can help.
Medically reviewed by Dr Spyridon VlachosSpecialist Plastic Surgeon · FEBOPRAS · GMC 7522950
Last reviewed
Written by the Centre for Surgery clinical team
Key points
Day case surgery, also called day surgery or outpatient surgery, means you are admitted, have your operation and go home on the same day, without staying overnight in hospital. Almost all the operations at our Baker Street hospital are day cases, including a tummy tuck, breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty, a facelift and a mummy makeover. In our 2025/26 reporting year, all 1,623 procedures were performed as day cases: see our clinical outcomes and patient safety figures.
Going home the same day changes where you recover, not what the operation involves: it is still surgery, with the same care beforehand and the same rules afterwards. This guide explains the benefits, what makes it safe, what happens on the day and what your responsible adult needs to know. For the wider picture, see your patient journey.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme describes day surgery as bringing recognised benefits for both patients and the health system[1]. For cosmetic surgery specifically, a study of 183,914 cosmetic procedures in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal ↗ found that major complications were no more common in accredited same-day surgical facilities than in hospitals: 1.3% in office-based surgical suites and 1.9% in day surgery centres, against 2.4% in hospitals[2]. The study was American, and hospitals tend to take on more complex patients, so it does not show that one setting is safer than another; it does show that planned same-day cosmetic surgery, with the right patients, is not less safe.
Yes, when the right people are chosen for it and the operation, anaesthetic and recovery are planned around going home. That selection is the most important safety step. A 2025 study of 2,581 same-day cosmetic surgery patients in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal ↗ found that pre-operative checks changed the plan for 9.4% of them, including 44 operations postponed until a problem had been treated[3]. UK guidance on day surgery from the Association of Anaesthetists and the British Association of Day Surgery, and reviews of enhanced recovery, point to the same essentials: careful selection, short fasting, an anaesthetic designed for a quick recovery, and good control of pain and sickness[4][5]. At our hospital that means:
The risks of an operation do not change because you go home the same day, so read the risks of cosmetic surgery too.
Most larger operations at our hospital are done under TIVA, total intravenous anaesthesia, rather than the anaesthetic gases used in many hospitals. With TIVA, people are less likely to feel sick and less likely to wake up confused or agitated, which makes it easier to be up, eating and drinking, and ready to go home within a few hours. Combined with local anaesthetic, our pain audits show it has minimised, and in many cases removed, the need for strong opioid painkillers, even after larger operations. Read more about anaesthesia for cosmetic surgery.
For most people, yes. A tummy tuck is a bigger operation than many people expect to have as a day case, but with careful selection, TIVA and good pain control, going home the same day is routine at our hospital. Published experience supports this: a series of 310 tummy tucks in the Annals of Plastic Surgery ↗, all done as day cases under total intravenous anaesthesia, recorded no haematomas, and fluid collections (seromas) in 4.8%, all treated simply in clinic[6]. As with any tummy tuck, minor problems such as small scar irregularities were common, and you need more help at home than after smaller operations: usually five to seven days.
Expect to be with us for four to six hours in total. Our pre-surgery FAQs cover fasting and what to bring, and preparing for cosmetic surgery covers the weeks before.
When you are ready, not at a fixed time. Your nurse goes through a set of checks with you, and you go home once they are all met. You can tick them off here:
Ready to go home?
A responsible adult must take you home by car or taxi, not public transport, and stay with you for the first 24 hours. This is a condition of going home, not a suggestion: we cannot discharge you without one. If you are travelling from outside London, read travelling to us for surgery.
For the first 24 hours after surgery, call your surgeon on the direct number in your discharge summary. After that, our phone lines are open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Outside those hours, call NHS 111 for urgent advice.
Most people are glad to sleep in their own bed. If you live a long way away or would like to be near the hospital for the first night, we have arrangements with several hotels near Baker Street, and overnight nursing can be arranged in advance for people staying locally, at an extra charge. Your responsible adult still needs to be with you. If your surgeon or anaesthetist feels you are not ready to leave on the day, they will explain why and what happens next, and look after you until you are.
Most healthy adults are. You are likely to be suitable if you are fit and well, within the BMI limit for your operation, have stopped smoking and vaping for four weeks, and have a responsible adult to take you home and stay for 24 hours. Your surgeon checks this at your consultation and your nurse at your pre-operative assessment. If day surgery is not right for you, we will tell you.
Going home the same day is not about rushing anyone out. It works because we plan for it from the first consultation: who is suitable, how the anaesthetic is given, how pain is controlled, and who will be with you at home.
Dr Spyridon Vlachos, Specialist Plastic Surgeon and medical reviewer
Our hospital is at 95–97 Baker Street. For what happens in the days and weeks after you get home, see recovery after cosmetic surgery.
Guidance comes from the official sources listed.
Admission checks with your nurse, then a final talk with your surgeon and your consultant anaesthetist.
Under TIVA or local anaesthetic with sedation, with long-acting local anaesthetic for comfort afterwards.
You wake within minutes, rest, have a drink and something to eat, and take a short walk.
Once your nurse is happy, your responsible adult takes you home by car or taxi and stays for 24 hours.
No question matches that. Try another word, or ask a patient coordinator.
Any planned operation where you are admitted, have your operation and go home on the same day, without an overnight stay. At our hospital almost all cosmetic operations are day cases, including a tummy tuck and breast augmentation.
In the UK, day case surgery usually means you are admitted to a ward for your operation and go home the same day. Outpatient procedures are smaller ones done in a clinic room, such as removing a mole under local anaesthetic. In the US, “outpatient surgery” is used for both.
Usually a few hours after your operation, once you are awake, steady, comfortable, have had something to drink and eat, and your responsible adult is with you. There is no fixed time: you go home when you are ready.
Expect four to six hours in total, from arrival to going home, depending on your operation and how quickly you recover from the anaesthetic.
No. Wear loose, comfortable clothes, ideally a top that opens at the front and slip-on shoes, so you can dress easily afterwards. If you are staying near the hospital overnight, bring an overnight bag.
You change into a gown, and disposable underwear is provided. Only the area being operated on is uncovered during your operation.
Not usually at our hospital. Most people go home the same day with a responsible adult, and need help at home for about five to seven days. If you would like to stay near the hospital for the first night, overnight nursing can be arranged in advance at extra cost.
Many people find the second and third days the most uncomfortable, as swelling peaks and the local anaesthetic has worn off. After that, each day usually gets a little easier. Our guide to recovery after cosmetic surgery explains what to expect week by week.
It depends on your operation and journey, so ask your surgeon at your pre-operative appointment. Most people go home by car, as a passenger, with their responsible adult. See travelling to us for surgery.
TIVA and local anaesthetic with sedation: how they work and what to expect.
Read the guide →
The night before and the morning of surgery: fasting, what to wear and what to bring.
Read the guide →
Coming from outside London: how many trips, getting home safely and staying nearby.
Read the guide →Patient guide 12 of 16
What our patients say
Selected Google reviews, quoted word for word; […] marks where a review has been shortened. Individual experiences — results vary.
Patient Library
53 articles on choosing a clinic, anaesthesia and safety, written for patients and medically reviewed by Dr Spyridon Vlachos, Specialist Plastic Surgeon.
Planning & safety
Signs of a blood clot after surgery, how long DVT and PE risk lasts, who is at higher risk after cosmetic surgery, and how to prevent clots in recovery.
Read the article: Blood Clots After Surgery: Signs, Risks and PreventionPlanning & safety
Planning & safety
The Centre for Surgery newsletter
New articles from our Patient Library, recovery advice from our surgeons and news from our hospital on Baker Street.
Regulated by
Rated Good overall
Our CQC report
Our surgeons are members of
A patient coordinator will call you within one working day, Monday to Saturday. Nothing is booked until you’re ready.
Prefer to talk now? Call 020 7993 4849
