KEY POINTS: 1. COVID19 has mandated many changes to secondary care since declaration of the pandemic in 2019. Reducing the exposure of the hospital setting to patients to a minimum is therefore not only in the best interests of individual patients but also the public. 2. A steady increase in the percentage of same-day discharges of hemithyroidectomy cases has been observed over the past 3 years, with very few post-operative complications. 3. The inferences made from this communication propose that hemithyroidectomy operations can be carried out safely as day case procedures under otolaryngology departments in a district general setting. 4. Patients no longer require a drain inserted at the end of a hemithyroidectomy procedure provided adequate haemostasis has been achieved. 5. Hemithyroidectomy procedures should be prioritised as earlier on the operating list to ensure adequate time for observation in recovery and ample time for the discharge process to be completed to achieve same-day discharge.