My younger one had them in 2013 at about 18months. He had 7 lots of antibiotics in 3 months so I got a referral for an ENT who was kind enough to have a cancellation that week for me - grommets were in by the following Monday.
Went under GA and was out again fairly quickly. Only problem was the fasting (no BF/milk during the day - afternoon surgery)

ETA:
We were also one of the lucky ones where the grommets lasted more than 12 months (9months is typical I'm told). We're currently on watching how he goes. I think we're out of needing them as we survived this winter without an ear infection. So ENT is hopeful it's all good as the tube is usually grown enough by 4 to not need them anymore.