Can a patient who is paying £1000s request a stronger sedative prior to surgery?

The level of sedation and/or anesthesia for any procedure is a decision between the patient and his/her doctors and ranges between local anesthesia only to full general anesthesia with IV sedation in between. If you are uncomfortable with the options that your surgeon is offering, get another opinion.

It is really not your surgeons responsibility to manage your baseline anxiety.

Offering a prescription for a full 10 mg dose of Valium which has a 30+ hour half-life was generous.

Normal Valium doses are typically 2-10mg.

If you have anxiety that requires stronger medication then consider seeking help from a psychiatrist or your primary care physician.

I suppose you can ask your surgeon but writing dosing beyond the high end of normal it’s probably more than most would do.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD