Bentley Health Service
Patient Information Booklet
Welcome
to Bentley Health Service
The Executive and staff welcome you to the Bentley Health Service (BHS). Everyone will try to make your stay as pleasant and as comfortable as possible.
The environment may be unfamiliar to you. This booklet provides answers to questions you may have about our hospital and services and facilities offered by the health service.
BHS is part of the Royal Perth Group within the South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS) and participates in area-wide partnerships to enhance health care delivery.
BHS is a 199 bed specialist hospital providing a range of services including medical and surgical, obstetric/gynaecology, aged care and rehabilitation, adult and older adult mental health and allied health services.
As at all Department of Health (DoH) facilities in Western Australia, BHS is a smoke-free zone and smoking is not permitted anywhere on the grounds (with the exception of locked mental health wards).
Maree Thomter
A/General Manager
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Our Mission
Is to provide comprehensive, quality health care to our community with compassion, competence and commitment.
Our Vision
Is to provide:
Quality health care
Unity and cohesion within our health service
Accredited health care for all members of our community
Leadership in all of the health care services in which we participate
Integrated and comprehensive health care
Teaching and research to promote provision of optimal care to meet
Your individual requirements
Our Values
We strive to ensure that our service delivery is characterised by:
• Integrity / • Professionalism / •Safety• Compassion / • Teamwork / • Sensitivity
• Ethical Practice / • Collective Good / • Respect
• Flexibility / • Customer Focus / • Efficiency
Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights
(Brochures and posters are available throughout the hospital)
Under the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights everyone seeking or receiving care in the Australian health system has rights regarding the nature of their care.
Access – a right to health care.
Safety – a right to safe and high quality care.
Respect – a right to be shown respect, dignity and consideration.
Communication – a right to be informed about services, treatment, options and costs in a clear and open way.
Participation – a right to be included in decisions and choices about care.
Privacy – a right to privacy and confidentiality of provided information.
Comment – a right to comment on care and having concerns addressed.
Mental health patients
The Mental Health Act 1996 provides a number of extra rights for patients receiving psychiatric treatment. For more information please contact the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist on (08) 9222 4462 or visit www.chiefpsychiatrist.health.wa.gov.au
Council of Official Visitors
The Council of Official Visitors plays a major role as an independent advocacy service for individuals that are currently being treated under the Mental Health Act (1996). Official visitors regularly visit wards 6, 7, 8 and 10 but if you would like to talk to a visitor independently, call (08) 9226 3266 or free call 1800 999 057.
Location
BHS is located at 33 Mills Street, Bentley, near the junction of Albany and Leach Highways.
Public transport
Buses
Several bus routes travel along Albany Highway with stops close to Mills Street. Bus route 201 from Cannington Train Station also stops outside BHS four times per day.
Trains
Queens Park Station is the closest train station to BHS and is approximately a 20 minute walk.
For more information call Transperth on 13 62 13 or visit their website at www.transperth.wa.gov.au/
Voluntary patient transport
Some volunteer transport is provided for patients attending Day Therapy Unit (DTU) activities. Please discuss what volunteer transport may be available to you with the DTU Coordinator in D Block.
Parking
There is free patient and visitor parking available on both sides of Mills Street. Additional parking is also available behind A and B blocks which is accessed from Channon Street.
Please see campus map on following page.
Our services
Bentley Health Service
· Medical, surgical and obstetric/gynaecological services
· Same-day surgical unit for minor procedures
· Aged care rehabilitation program including overnight hospital care, day hospital and domiciliary home care and equipment provision.
Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) consisting of doctors, nurses and social workers who provide patient assessments in their own homes or care facilities.
Outpatient services include:
· Physiotherapy
· Speech Pathology
· Nutrition and Dietetics
· Pharmacy
· Podiatry
· Continence assessment and education
· Diabetes management and education
· Social Work
· Ante-natal care
· Aged Care Therapy Unit
· Gynaecological Assessment Clinic
· Physiotherapy (post-natal care)
· Visiting midwife service
· Neonatal hearing screening clinic
Adult and Older Adult Mental Health
· Community and clinic based outpatient services are provided by a multidisciplinary team of nurses, doctors, psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers in three program areas of adult, older adult and sub-acute.
· All teams offer assessment, clinical interventions and advice for consumers and carers of people experiencing moderate to severe mental health problems.
· Services are provided in adult and sub-acute for people aged 18-65 years and in older adult for people older 65 years of age.
· In addition to our community teams, we provide acute inpatient services for adults and older adults.
· Where applicable beds are authorised under the Mental Health Act 1996; with care being provided by the multidisciplinary inpatient care teams and supported by community teams for discharge planning.
· Mental health rehabilitation services for inpatient and community rehabilitation are provided from the John Milne Centre on Ward 9.
Before you arrive – what to bring
Important items you should bring to hospital include:
· Medicare Card (if applicable)
· Private health insurance card (if applicable)
· Pension/DVA/Healthcare/safety net card
· Current medications you have been prescribed
· Existing x-rays/scans
· Reading glasses, dentures, hearing aids or walking aids.
If staying overnight you should also bring:
· Sleepwear, underwear, footwear
· Toiletries including toothbrush, toothpaste and sanitary items
· Minimal amount of money for newspapers and snacks, if desired
· Book/magazine to read, if desired.
Accounts and fees
Public patients
Patients under Medicare should present their card on admission. Your hospital stay and care is covered under Medicare but doctors’ fees may be charged separately through the Visiting Doctor’s surgery.
Private patients
BHS strive to provide a high standard of treatment and care to every patient. Patients with private health insurance have the choice to be treated as either a public or private patient.
All patients receive the same quality of service and range of services at BHS regardless of health cover; but using private health insurance offers additional benefits. These benefits include:
· Choice of specialist doctor where possible
· Television rental where available
· Newspapers Monday – Friday
· Kiosk/visitor meal vouchers
· Toiletries pack on admission (includes tissues, shampoo and conditioner, shower cap, vanity set, soap toothbrush and toothpaste)
· Notepad and pen
A private patient with appropriate hospital cover has no out of pocket expenses for their hospital stay including hospital accommodation, pathology, radiology, theatre fees, pharmaceuticals etc.
Doctors
Your consultant and their team will provide medical care at no out of pocket expense.
For day surgery and elective surgery, private practitioners and anaesthetists will discuss any extra costs prior to your admission.
Private room
As a private patient, you can request a private room. We trust you understand that priority is given to patients according to medically-assessed special needs.
Our hospital
Using your private health insurance greatly benefits our hospital. The money received assists BHS to buy additional equipment, helps to maintain facilities and continue to provide a safe and quality service for all patients.
Advanced healthcare directives
Advanced healthcare directives (instructions that consent to, or refuse, the future use of specified medical treatments) provide patients with a way to communicate their end–of-life wishes to families, carers, and healthcare teams. If you have advanced healthcare directives, please advise staff when you come into hospital.
Aggression
At BHS we operate a zero tolerance policy in response to aggressive, abusive or intimidating behaviours. Any aggressive behaviour will be referred to the appropriate authority for an independent redress.
BHS acknowledges the individual right of each employee to pursue independent legal redress following incidents of aggression should they want to do so.
Alcohol and drugs
Alcohol, non-prescription or illicit drugs may not be brought into BHS by patients or visitors. Relevant authority and security will be involved immediately.
Leave your valuables at home
The hospital cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to personal property. We recommend that you do not bring jewellery, other valuables or excess cash when you are admitted. Your personal property is your responsibility.
Assistive devices (dentures, glasses, hearing aids, walking frames etc)
If you wear dentures, please ask the nurse for a container for your dentures. If you wear glasses or use a hearing aid, please place them in the locker drawer beside your bed when they are not in use.
Children in hospital as patients
Children are welcome in our hospital as patients and every effort is made to minimise their fears and make their stay as happy as possible. Children admitted to Ward 3 for surgery may bring their favourite toys or books with them and one parent may board with their child. This parent will be provided with meals while the child is hospitalised and a bed is provided if one is available. If not, the boarding parent is made comfortable in a reclining chair in the patient’s room. Parents are encouraged to accompany their child to the reception area of the operating suite and are kept informed of their child’s progress as much as possible during this time.
Community Advisory Council
A Community Advisory Council (CAC) was establishedto help usunderstand the consumer experience. The CAC comprises a group of voluntary community members who provide support and advice to the hospital on relevant issues to improve the hospital experience for patients, their relatives and other hospital consumers. Through the CAC, local consumersand communities can help us to make the best decisions when it comes to planning our services. If you are interested in becoming a member of the CAC, please call the CAC secretary on (08)9334 3873.
Confidentiality
We have a responsibility to maintain the privacy of patient information. This information is considered confidential by all hospital staff. When relatives or friends telephone the hospital enquiring about your condition, only very general information is given. You have the right to determine who should be informed by your doctor of your condition. Following an operation, your relatives should first enquire at the ward about your condition and when you can be visited. If further information is required, the nursing staff will arrange for your relatives to speak with the appropriate medical staff. Discussions regarding your medical condition with your nominated relatives will not occur over the telephone because of the difficulties associated with identification.
Consent for operation/procedure
You are required to sign a consent form before having an operation, being given anaesthetic or having some non-surgical procedures. Medical staff will explain the procedure to you and you will be able to ask questions about the likely outcome, possible after effects and alternatives to surgery before you give written consent for the surgery to proceed. Written consent by parents, guardian or next of kin is required for minors and for patients mentally or physically incapable of indicating consent.
As part of the consent process, your doctor will provide you with an explanation of the possible risks and benefits of a procedure. This explanation is an essential part of ensuring that consent is “informed”. Please ask for clarification if you do not understand any information you are given. Following this explanation, you may take the information home for further consideration, or sign a consent form, agreeing to proceed with the treatment.
Consideration for others
Inpatients at BHS vary considerably in their degree of illness. Patients are asked to keep undue noise to a minimum and limit the number of visitors at any one time.
Consumers Advisory Group (CAG)
The purpose of the Bentley Mental Health Consumers Advisory Group is to act as a consultative group to promote and represent consumer and carer issues and provide advice and recommendations to the Bentley Mental Health Service on issues affecting consumers and carers using the service. Please contact the Program Manager Sub Acute Mental Health on 08 9334 3515 for further information.
Discharge procedures
Your doctor, nursing staff and allied health team will discuss your expected discharge plan with you, before and during your stay. If you require support with transport to your home address on discharge, please discuss your options with the nursing staff upon admission. Where possible, your family and friends will be given sufficient notice to enable them to make the necessary transport and domestic arrangements. Please note that the discharge time is 10:00am.
At the time of discharge your nurse, pharmacist or allied health professional will:
· Provide information specific to your condition and referral letters if required to assist your continued treatment and recovery.
· Return relevant medications you brought in and provide prescriptions.
· Provide x-rays, scans and films taken while your are an inpatient.
· Arrange for community follow up if required.
· In Mental Health you and/or your carer (if you consent) will be contacted within seven days to see how you are doing and you will also be given a discharge care plan.
If you have any health concerns following discharge please contact your discharging doctor or your General Practitioner.
Discharge at own risk
You may discharge yourself from hospital except where there is legal restraint. You will be asked to sign a self-discharge form if you leave against medical advice. If you choose not to follow the advice provided by those providing care and treatment, you cannot hold the hospital or staff responsible for the consequences of your choices or actions.
Electrical equipment – Patient’s personal items