Services during your stay

 

Accounts

St John of God Pinelodge Clinic is a registered Government approved private hospital, which means private health insurance funds will contribute towards fees to the extent of the level of cover held by each patient.
When you are admitted, and at any other time upon request, our administration staff will explain all details relating to your account. A surcharge of $50 is levied on patients who decide, for whatever reason, to discharge themselves on the same day as their admission.

Accounts are payable weekly in advance and the balance in full on the day of discharge. Cash, Cheque, Visa/Mastercard and EFPOS are accepted. If you have any problems relating to the payment of your account, please make an appointment with the Patients' Services Manager, who will arrange a mutually acceptable payment arrangement.

The hospital will directly claim from a patient's health fund on their behalf. Prior to discharge, patients should see Reception or a Patient Services Officer to sign any outstanding documents.

Discharge planning

Planning for your return home is an important part of your continuing care. It involves discussion with your family and support people to ensure you are fully prepared and that your needs are anticipated. Your attending psychiatrist or general practitioner will advise nursing caregivers of the day of your discharge. Before discharge, please call at the Reception Office on the ground floor to finalise your account. Discharge is by 10am.
In order to monitor and improve our services, we encourage all patients to fill out our Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. Your comments or suggestions will ensure that we continue to maintain a first class service.

Doctor visits

Your general practitioner or psychiatrist will see you upon admission to the hospital and will arrange additional appointments to review your progress during your stay. The times of their visit may vary. However, nursing caregivers will inform you when they are expected. If you feel you would like to have an additional appointment with your doctor, please speak to nursing caregivers.

Feedback

We aim, at all times, to provide you with a high level of care and service. We welcome feedback from our patients, whether they are praising, commenting on, or making a complaint about our care or service. Feedback is important in helping us to continually improve.

If you have any feedback, including a complaint, about your stay please talk to one of your caregivers. Complaint forms are available in the wards and from reception. You can be assured that your feedback will be dealt with carefully, confidentially and discretely.

If you would like to provide written feedback, please send it to:

The Chief Executive Officer/Director of Nursing
St John of God Pinelodge Clinic
1480 Heatherton Road
Dandenong 3175

You can also email feedback to us via info.pinelodgeclinic@sjog.org.au

The hospital also undertakes regular patient satisfaction surveys and uses the results to identify areas for improvement. St John of God Pinelodge Clinic has a Patient Consumer Representative who is available, on request, to receive patient feedback.

Flowers

Flowers are delivered to your room.

Housekeeping

Your room will be cleaned daily but we seek patient cooperation in keeping rooms neat and tidy. Our overall therapeutic approach to patient care involves patients being responsible for making their own bed each morning. However, assistance is provided where necessary.

Laundry

Patients need to make their own arrangements for personal laundry, although the hospital provides laundry facilities for the use of patients.

Leave from hospital

Once admitted, the hospital has obligations to and responsibility for patients. Accordingly, your doctor must grant permission before you can leave the hospital grounds, whether for a shopping expedition or on overnight leave. If you do leave the hospital, you will be required to sign a book at the nurses' office before leaving and upon your return.

Patients of the hospital's Alcohol & Drug Dependency Unit will be asked to provide a breathalyser reading and/or supervised urine screening each time they return from leave. Due to the physical symptoms associated with alcohol and drug withdrawal, as well as the side effects of some prescribed medications, patients are not permitted to leave the hospital grounds within the first seven days of their admission. After seven days, subject to the health of each patient, permission may be granted for accompanied or unaccompanied leave, outside of group leave.

Patients on leave for more than two nights are considered to be discharged, thereby requiring readmission upon return, providing a bed is available.

Lounge facilities

There are lounge facilities, which include tea and coffee making facilities and a fridge to store your own food and drinks, on each ward. We also have an outdoor courtyard area with exercise equipment for patient use.

Mail

Incoming mail, including facsimiles, is delivered daily. Outgoing mail may be left at reception. Please ensure that all outgoing mail is appropriately stamped.

Meals

Our catering department offers an extensive menu, which ensures a large variety of meals are available to meet your needs based on Australian dietary guidelines. Specific menus cater for special diets (such as religious requirements or vegetarians/vegans). Please notify the catering department of special diets and this will be arranged. All meals are served in the communal dining room.

Meal service times:

• Breakfast, 8am-8.30am
• Morning tea, 10am-10.30am
• Lunch, noon-12.45pm
• Afternoon tea, 2pm-5pm
• Dinner, 5.15pm-6pm
• Supper, 7.30pm-10.30pm

Medications

Nursing caregivers are responsible for administering all medications and supplements. They are only able to distribute medications prescribed by your doctor. At times, the wards can be very busy, so patients are requested to arrive promptly for medication dispensing, which occurs at these times:

• 7.45am-8.30am
• 12.30pm-1pm
• 5.30pm-6pm
• 8.30pm-9pm

Upon admission, all medications and supplements should be handed to nursing caregivers for safekeeping and dispensing.

Newspapers

Daily newspapers and magazines are available within the hospital.

Parking

Visitor parking is available onsite and in the streets immediately surrounding the hospital. The hospital cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage incurred when visitors are parked at or around the hospital. Patients should not drive themselves to the hospital if they are being admitted and should not keep car or other forms of transport at the hospital during their stay.

Pastoral Services

Ministers of religion of various denominations are available from within the local area. If you would like to arrange a visit from a minister of religion, please speak to one of your caregivers.

Privacy

Please ensure that you read our Privacy Information. This provides you with information about your right to privacy and the hospital's responsibilities in this area. You will be asked to sign a Privacy Consent Form outlining some common uses of information in a hospital setting. If you have any further questions, please contact our Privacy Officer on 8793 9444.

Safety issues

The hospital is equipped with an automatic fire detection system and other fire prevention equipment. Please take note of the exits in case of emergency. Plans of the hospital, showing the nearest exits, are displayed in the corridors. In an emergency, caregivers trained in emergency procedures will direct patients to safety.

Valuables

Patients should limit the amount of personal property brought into the hospital and because of limited secure storage space should not bring valuables. The hospital does not accept responsibility for the loss of valuables. In exceptional circumstances only, as facilities are limited, the Patients' Services officer can secure items up to a value of $500. A receipt will be issued, which must be produced to reclaim the items, and the hospital's responsibility for these items is limited to $500. Patients are permitted to bring small radios or CD players with them. All cameras, including mobile phone cameras are prohibited.

Visitors

For patients of the hospital's Alcohol & Drug Dependency Unit, withdrawing from drugs or alcohol can be an emotionally distressing time. Even visits from loved ones during this time can arouse strong feelings of grief, regret or shame and these feelings may result in some patients discharging themselves. As a result, the hospital's policy is that patients undergoing alcohol and drug withdrawal are unable to see visitors during the first seven days after admission.