Pacific Private Hospital

Preparing for your hospital visit

• Before your surgery

  We will call or text you at least 24 hours before your admission if we require any further information from you, or if you are required to pay any out-of-pocket expense prior to your admission.

  Please contact your specialist to check your admission times and operation requirements, or to raise any concerns.

  Before you come in for your scheduled admission, you will need to:

  • Complete your online pre-admission admission information.
  • Contact your health fund to confirm your cover and any excess or costs you may need to pay.
  • Make sure you have a responsible adult to stay with you for 24 hours after surgery. We can’t discharge you without a designated carer. Please let us know if this is going to be a problem.
  • Fast at the required time. Your doctor will advise you when you need to start fasting before your surgery. If you have regular medications you need to take during this time, please ask your doctor how to do this safely.
  • Contact your doctor if you experience any health changes before surgery. If your health has deteriorated, we may need to postpone the procedure until you are feeling better.

  Online Patient Admission
• What to bring

  On the day of surgery, please bring the following items with you:

  • Your fully completed hospital forms, consent form (if applicable) and any letters or reports from your doctor
  • Your health insurance membership details
  • Your Medicare card
  • A list of any current medications

  Where applicable, please also bring:

  • Any relevant x-ray or ultrasound films
  • Pension card
  • Health care card
  • Prescription record card
  • Pharmaceutical entitlement card
  • Safety net card
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs card
  • Workers’ compensation approval letter

  It’s also a good idea to bring something to do – books, magazines or an iPad. And make sure you wear shoes with non-slip soles and low heels.

• What not to bring

  Please be aware that the hospital accepts no responsibility for any personal items. For this reason, please do not bring valuables such as jewellery or large amount of cash.

• Children’s surgery

  It’s natural to feel anxious when your child has surgery. We’ll do everything we can to make sure everyone is comfortable and relaxed.

• Fasting

  If you’re undergoing an anaesthetic, you will need to avoid eating or drinking anything for a specified amount of time. This helps keep your airway and lungs safe while you’re asleep.

  Fasting requirements will be provided by your Doctor. Please contact your surgeon’s rooms if you require further information on fasting.

  Even when fasting, you are allowed a very small amount of water until two hours before surgery. Do not chew gum, eat lollies or have any milk-based drinks during your fasting period.

  We will provide you with a light refreshment and fluids in the recovery room after your surgery.

• Medications

  Please bring a list of all your current medications in the original packaging provided by your pharmacy on the day of your procedure.

  Ask your doctor or anaesthetist if you should take your prescribed medications on the morning of your procedure. If fasting, you can take them with a sip of water.

  If you take diabetes or anti-coagulant therapy medication, your anaesthetist or surgeon will help you manage it prior to your admission.

• Smoking

  Smoking is banned at all Queensland public and private hospitals and health facilities, and for five metres beyond their boundaries.

  The legislation, which was introduced on January 1, 2015, is the Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 to Part 8 of the Amendment of Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998.

  These no smoking laws apply at all times, to all staff and patient residential areas on healthcare facility land, and include the use of all smoking products, including regular cigarettes and devices commonly known as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). The laws cover:

  • Land on which any Queensland Health Hospital and Health Service provide health services, including hospitals, community health centres, health clinics, rehabilitation centres and residential aged care facilities
  • Land on which a private health facility (private hospitals and day hospitals) provides services.

  Enforcement

  The laws are enforced by Queensland Health environmental health officers and public facility authorised officers.

  Patients, staff or visitors smoking in smoke-free areas may be given a warning to stop smoking or be asked to move beyond the five-metre smoke-free buffer if they wish to continue smoking.

  On-the-spot fines apply for breaches of the tobacco laws.

  Find out more
  Call 13 QGOV (13 7468)

   

   

• Getting here and parking

  On-site underground parking is available off Cougal Street (Please note, this is metered parking and will incur a fee after 30 minutes). There is also paid parking in the shopping precinct directly opposite the hospital.

  After your procedure, you can take a taxi home if needed, as long as there is somebody at home who will stay with you overnight. Uber, bus and tram are not acceptable forms of transport after surgery.

• Admission

  Upon arrival at the hospital, please head to our reception. There, you and a friend or family member will be able to take a seat in our comfortable waiting area.

  Our nursing staff will work with you to finalise your admission. This includes obtaining all your relevant health history, including details of your next of kin and ensuring you have a plan to have somebody to take your home when you are discharged.

  You will be asked to change into your theatre garments and a dressing gown. You’ll be admitted based on the order of the theatre list (procedure schedule), not the order of hospital arrival.

  At this time, we will also take your personal items for safe storage. Please do not bring any valuables with you to admission.

• Billing and private health insurance

  Pacific Private Hospital is recognised by all major health funds. Please contact your health fund before admission to ensure you have no restrictions to your cover and have served all applicable waiting periods. Your health fund can also inform you of any potential excess or co-payments you may incur.

  All out-of-pocket expenses will need to be paid prior to or on admission. We accept the following payment methods:

  • Credit card (1% surcharge for Visa and MasterCard)
  • Cash
  • Bank cheque or money order.

  We will seek prior approval for patients seeking compensation through a third party (e.g. WorkCover and some Department of Veterans’ Affairs).

  Patients without private health insurance are very welcome at Pacific Private Hospital. Please contact us for an estimated procedure cost.

  It is important to note that you may incur additional out-of-pocket expenses from any of the following during your stay:

  • Pathology
  • Pharmacy
  • Imaging or x-ray
  • Surgeon, physician or anaesthetist
  • Prosthetics or consumables not covered by your fund.

  We realise hospital and related charges can be confusing. Please contact the hospital’s patient accounts department with any queries on (07) 5556 6222.

  Questions to ask your private health insurer

  Before you have surgery, we recommend you contact your private health insurer and check whether you are covered for surgery. We have provided a guide to the questions you should ask.

  Guide to the questions you should ask
• After your surgery

  After your procedure, you’ll be transferred to our recovery area where you can take time to recover and have some light refreshments. If you have any special dietary needs, please advise your admitting nurse during the admission process.

  The effects of anaesthesia can last up to 24 hours, so you must have somebody who can drive you home and stay with you overnight after your procedure. We will call that person on their mobile number when you’re ready to be discharged. We will also provide them with discharge instructions.

  It’s important to follow your discharge instructions to help ensure you get the best results from your surgery. Your anaesthetist will provide a prescription for any pain relief and/or antibiotics required after surgery.

  Please pick this medication up on your way home, as you may require it shortly after you leave the facility.

  For 24 hours after an anaesthetic, you will be unable to:

  • Drink alcohol
  • Drive a vehicle
  • Operate machinery
  • Sign legal documents
  • Make important decisions.

  Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

  Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) can occur after surgery. It happens when a blood clot forms in the veins of the leg. The risk of developing DVT after surgery increases due to inactivity during and after your procedure. When lying down, you don’t generate enough muscle movement to continuously pump blood to your heart.

  Find more information on DVT and how to prevent it after surgery here.

  Infection

  Please notify your surgeon if you notice any redness, swelling, pain or discharge coming from your wound – or if you visit a doctor and are prescribed antibiotics for an associated infection within 30 days of your procedure.

  Nausea

  While less common these days, you might still experience temporary nausea after your procedure. If it persists, avoid food but continue drinking fluids. If the nausea does not end within 24 hours, please contact your doctor.

  Preventing falls

  Your risk of falling or tripping may increase after your procedure. Be careful when moving around. If you’re feeling unsafe, please rest and let your carer help you for the remainder of the day.

  Preventing pressure injuries

  Pressure injuries can occur when you can’t move for a period of time. They can be a wound or reddened skin. To avoid these injuries whilst in hospital, regularly change position in bed and walk or move around as much as possible.

  Sore throat

  This sometimes happens when your anaesthetist helps you with your breathing during your procedure. It usually goes away within 24 hours. Simple pain relief may help relieve this.

  Tender arm or hand at injection site

  The area around your injection site can feel uncomfortable due to irritation of the vein or slight bruising from the needle or the drugs injected. It can last several days. If your arm or hand look red or inflamed, let your doctor know and notify Pacific Private.

  Concerns after discharge

  We still care about your health and comfort after you leave our facility. One of our nurses will call you a few days after your surgery to check in on your recovery. Also make sure you schedule a post-operative appointment with your surgeon.

  If you or your carer have any concerns, please contact your doctor or general practitioner. Take your discharge summary so they know the details of your surgery.

  If your situation is urgent, please go to your nearest emergency department or dial 000.

  Information for those at risk of a fall Falls prevention
• Privacy

  As a patient of Pacific Private Hospital, we take maintaining your privacy and dignity extremely seriously. We put great effort into keeping medical records relating to your treatment secure. The content of these records will only be divulged with your consent, or where permitted or authorised by law.

  We handle your personal information in accordance with the Nexus Privacy Policy and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (including the Australian Privacy Principles under that Act) and other applicable laws. For more information, read our Patient Information & Pre-Admission Booklet, and download the Australian Privacy Principles fact sheet.

  Privacy Policy Australian Privacy Principles fact sheet
• Quality & Safety

  Pacific Private Hospital strictly follows all statutory and relevant body guidelines and Australian Standards. We work hard to provide both a supportive environment and the highest level of care for our patients and staff.

  We work together under the management of the Board of Directors, Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) and Director of Nursing.

  Please visit the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare website to find more information on the resources available to support safe and high quality healthcare.

  Quality management

  We never stop caring about patient care. That’s why we continually monitor and assess everything we do, so we can improve the quality of care we provide. Our quality outcomes are reviewed by our MAC and before being made available for consumer feedback.

  Risk management

  We constantly and proactively work to create the safest possible environment for patients, visitors and staff.

  Workforce checks
  To make sure we offer the highest possible standard of comfort and care, our specialist clinical staff have their credentials and abilities assessed annually.

  Clinical handover

  To make sure nothing is missed, our systems ensure seamless continuity in the event your care is transferred from one person to another. This includes discharge instructions to patients and/or carers.

  Infection control

  We implement evidence-based clinical practice guidelines that aim to prevent and limit infection spread during and after hospital admission.

  Infection Prevention and Infection Rates

  Pacific Private Hospital follows strict infection control procedures, and staff take every precaution to prevent infections. As most patients are discharged the same day, we try to get feedback from your specialist or GP if any infections occur. We do encourage you also to contact us directly if any concerns regarding this as well.

  One of the infections that we closely monitor at Pacific Private Hospital is Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteraemia, also known as SAB or ‘Golden Staph.’ SAB can cause skin infections, blood poisoning, pneumonia and other infections.

  The graph below shows the number of Staphylococcus Aureus infections. The coloured bars represent Pacific Private Hospital’s rate. The national benchmark for SAB is no more than 2 cases per 10,000 days of patient care.

  Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteraemia Infections – Pacific Private Hospital

  

  

  What are we doing to prevent infection?

  Pacific Private Hospital employs a variety of strategies to prevent infections. These include:

  • auditing how often and how well staff wash their hands using soap and water or hand sanitiser
  • using gloves and specialised sterile equipment
  • using specialised disinfectants when cleaning facilities
  • following national guidelines for high level disinfection and sterilisation processes
  • placing hand sanitiser dispensers in public areas throughout our hospital so that they are readily accessible to staff, patients and visitors.

  What can you do to help?

  At Pacific Private Hospital, patients and visitors are part of the health care team. There are a number of things you can do to reduce the risk of infection for yourself and others:

  • Wash your hands carefully with soap and water or use hand sanitiser upon entering and leaving the hospital. This is the most important way in which you can prevent the spread of infection.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Wash your hands afterwards – every time!
  • If you do not have a tissue available, cough or sneeze into your elbow, not into your hand.
  • As a patient, report any infection you have had, especially if you are still on antibiotics.
  • Make sure you take the full course of antibiotics you have been given, even if you are feeling better.
  • If you have a dressing for a wound, keep the skin around the dressing clean and dry. Let the healthcare worker looking after you know promptly if it becomes loose or wet.
  • Tell your healthcare worker if the area around any drips, tubes or drains inserted into your body becomes red, swollen or painful.
  • Let the healthcare worker looking after you know if equipment has not been cleaned properly
  • Stop smoking before any surgery or procedure, as smoking increases the risk of infection.

  Hand hygiene

  Pacific Private is committed to the Hand Hygiene Australia program. We conduct regular audits to ensure compliance throughout our facility.

  Hand Hygiene is another name for hand washing or cleaning. Good hand hygiene is an important part of infection control. Germs can survive on unwashed hands for over an hour, and we can unknowingly transmit bacteria and viruses for others.

  All our staff are required to frequently wash their hands with soap and water or with waterless hand sanitiser. Both are equally effective. We follow the World Health Organization’s guidelines for hand hygiene which specify the following times when health care staff must wash their hands:

  • before touching a patient
  • after touching a patient
  • before a procedure
  • after a procedure
  • after touching a patient’s belongings or surroundings

  At Pacific Private Hospital, we use auditors who are accredited by Hand Hygiene Australia to record whether or not hand hygiene has been performed correctly.

  The graph below shows the levels of hand hygiene compliance. The coloured bars represent Pacific Private Hospital’s rate. The national benchmark is 85.7%.

  

  Learn more about this program here.

  Falls within the hospital

  Falls are a leading cause of hospital-acquired injury and frequently prolong or complicate hospital stays. Patients may experience a fall because they are weakened by a medical condition or after an accident or surgery. We have created and implemented a wide range of strategies to prevent patients from falls.

  The graph below shows the percentage of patients who have had a fall during their stay with us.

  

  Pressure injuries

  Commonly known as bed sores, pressure injuries are areas of skin damage caused by prolonged pressure. They can range in severity from an area of reddened skin to ulcers with underlying tissue damage.

  Pressure injuries can sometimes occur when a patient remains in one position for a long period. Certain people are at increased risk of developing pressure injuries, such as the elderly, people who are bed-bound or have poor mobility, and people with chronic conditions like diabetes. These are most common on hips, tail bone, heels or other bony areas of the body.

  We have a range of approaches to treat and prevent pressure injuries, and our target is 0 pressure injuries.

  The graph below shows the number patients who have developed a pressure injury during their admission to hospital.

  

  Medication Errors

  Safe medication management is important to us at Pacific Private Hospital. There are many systems in use throughout the hospital to support and promote safety for supplying and administering medications, as well as monitoring their effects.

  Staff at Pacific Private Hospital follow strict guidelines to ensure that all medications are administered safely and correctly. We adhere to the 7 Rights of Medication Administration:

  • The Right Person
  • The Right Documentation and clinical context
  • The Right Drug
  • The Right Dose
  • The Right Date/Time
  • The Right Route
  • The Right to Uninterrupted Medication Administration

  Errors in medication administration are captured in the hospital’s incident reporting system and investigated.

  The graph below shows the rate of medication errors which required intervention. The coloured bars represent the rate at Pacific Private Hospital.

  

  Consumer Involvement

  We want to hear from you!

  With patients like you at the centre of our care model, we welcome your participation in reviewing our Quality & Safety reports. Please provide feedback on how we can continue to improve.

  Contact Director of Nursing at admin@pacificprivate.com.au

  Open Disclosure

  The Pacific Private Hospital Governing Body (Board of Directors), Staff and Accredited Medical Practitioners (AMPs) support the practice and principles of Open Disclosure.

  Pacific Private has a clear and consistent approach to open communication and disclosure with consumers and their carers. This is to enhance fairness, transparency and accountability.

  Please click on the button below for more information on Open Disclosure.

  Open Disclosure Policy Open Disclosure fact sheet
• Our commitment to child safety

  As a proud member of the Southport community, we take great pride in helping shape the area’s future. With this in mind, we always want to do everything we can to make sure children are safe, happy and empowered to be who and what they want to be. Our support and respect of all children guides how we train our staff and volunteers.

  We have absolutely zero tolerance of child abuse. Any and all allegations of wrongdoing and other safety concerns will be treated with the utmost seriousness in accordance with our child safety policies and procedures. We will immediately contact the proper authorities if we are worried about any child’s safety.

  We are committed to preventing child abuse, identifying risks early so we can remove and reduce them as quickly as possible. That’s why we regularly train and educate our staff and volunteers on these risks.

  We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young members of other culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds. We also strive to provide a safe environment for children with a disability.

  We’ve worked together to establish specific policies, procedures and training to support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.
  If you believe a child is at immediate risk of abuse, please phone 000.

  Please contact our General Manager / Director of Nursing via the button below if you wish to view the full policy.

  Contact us
• Patients’ rights and responsibilities

  We want to make sure you are aware of your rights while you are staying with us, and are committed to providing you access in line with the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights. Please click on the button below for more information.

  Patient rights and responsibilities
• Complaints, concerns and feedback

  We’re always trying to improve, and your feedback helps us understand where we can focus our efforts to do so.

  You will receive a Patient Satisfaction survey via text after your procedure. We encourage you to complete it as we really appreciate hearing your honest feedback around what went well and how we can get better to improve our patients’ experience.

  If you’re unhappy with any aspect of your care, please contact the General Manager / Director of Nursing. We take complaints seriously and will look into yours as soon as possible – and communicate the outcome of our investigation with you.

  If your complaint is unresolved, you can make a complaint with the Queensland Office of the Health Ombudsman online.

  Elevating patient experience

  At Pacific Private Hospital, we are committed to providing you with the best possible experience during your hospital stay. To evaluate how well we meet your needs, we invite you to complete a survey after discharge. We have based our survey on the Australian Hospital Patient Experience Question Set (AHPEQS) developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care for use in both public and private health services.

  We conduct surveys continually throughout the year, which provides us with feedback that is more accurate than periodic ones. Completing our survey is voluntary and anonymous and most patients complete the survey online via SMS link.

  Our management staff have access to Pacific Private Hospital’s survey results via an electronic portal. This allows them to review feedback immediately and identify any opportunities for improvement. We share anonymous positive and negative patient comments with relevant staff via our staff patient feedback newsletter and share them with our consumer consultants every month. We enter all feedback into our Riskclear risk management system, where we can analyse any trends and record improvements.

  One of our key questions is about the overall quality of treatment and care, which can be rated on a scale of 1 to 5, from ‘very poor’ to ‘very good’. The graph below shows patients’ responses during the most recent quarter.

  

  Another key question we ask our patients is “How likely is it that you would recommend Pacific Private Hospital to a family member, friend or colleague?” Patients can rate their response on a scale of 0 (Not at all likely) to 10 (Extremely likely). This allows us to calculate our Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is an index from -100 to +100.

  The graph below shows the Net Promoter Score for Pacific Private Hospital during the most recent quarter. The higher the score, the more patients would recommend the hospital. Scores above 50 are considered ‘excellent’.

  

  Take a look at how patients rate their experience at our hospital here.

  Submit feedback