Admission And Discharge

Admission To Hospital

A medical practitioner or surgeon must provide a referral prior to your admission, treatment or diagnostic services at Dhelkaya Health.

To make a referral, your medical practitioner or surgeon must have admitting rights for Dhelkaya Health.

Admission To Rehabilitation Unit

A medical practitioner or surgeon must provide a referral prior to your admission, treatment or diagnostic services at Dhelkaya Health.

To make a referral, your medical practitioner must submit this form.

Pre-Admission

Your doctor or your doctor’s receptionist will advise us of the date of your admission to the hospital and the proposed date of your operation/procedure.

What To Do Before Your Surgery

Before you come in for your surgery, you must read the information on the Pre-Admission Essentials page.

After that, you should complete the Pre-Admission Online Forms. The link is at the bottom of the Pre-Admission Essentials page.

Patient Transfers

During your treatment, you may be transferred to ensure you receive the best care from an appropriate specialist. This may mean a transfer to another hospital.

All transfer transport arrangements will be organised for you by our team, and they will keep your family or carer informed of the arrangements.

Discharge From Hospital

Upon discharge, we usually send a letter to your local doctor (unless your doctor has provided your inpatient care when this would be unnecessary), health care provider or the service that referred you. This also applies if you are transferred or referred to another health service or agency. The letter summarises your care with us, your medications and any special instructions your healthcare provider needs.

Only people directly involved in your ongoing care can receive this information about you. If you wish to keep information private from your other healthcare providers, please let the manager of your area or treating therapist know so we can discuss your concerns.

Refusal to disclose particular information should be specifically documented.

Discharge times

Discharge from the hospital occurs between 10 am and 11 am daily.

Discharge Transport

It is recommended that you have a friend or carer pick you up after discharge to ensure you have the appropriate support for your journey home. If you plan to travel home by taxi with a friend or carer, our staff can help you book.

Please note that Dhelkaya Health is not responsible for the cost of your home transport.

Support After Discharge

Rehabilitation and support can be continued from home after your discharge. Before leaving Dhelkaya Health, our team can refer you to the right community services and support to help you manage effectively at home.

A complete list of the services and programs available from Dhelkaya Health is available on our website.

Transition Care Program

The Transition Care Program (TCP) helps older people get back on their feet after a hospital stay. It provides short-term care for up to 12 weeks, including care planning, nursing support, personal care and allied health.

This program is for:

people aged 65 and older (or 50 and older for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people)
residents of Mount Alexander Shire
people who are being discharged from hospital
people who would like increased support from a team of nursing and allied health professionals to increase their independence and safety at home

How it can help

Services can be provided either in Thompson House (bed-based), Maldon hospital (bed-based) or at your home (home-based). The location will depend on your care needs when you are ready to be discharged from hospital. It can benefit some people to go to bed-based TCP and start to access their home in intervals with support of the allied health team, to build endurance and ‘test out’ their ability to live at home.

What is involved

your inpatient team will discuss the TCP option with you while planning your discharge
an Aged Care Assessment (ACAS) for TCP will be required in hospital
when you are admitted to the TCP the Coordinator will work with you to develop a plan based on your goals. This will detail what you can expect form the staff and services provied, for the duration of the program. Your care plan can be updated at any time if your needs change.
you will be under the care of your GP and pharmacy while you are in TCP. If you are in bed-based care, that will be with our partner pharmacy, McKenzie Davey Amcal Pharmacy in Castlemaine.

How much does it cost?

The Australia Government provides funding through flexible care subsidies.

There is a client contribution fee which you will be asked to pay, if you can afford to. The fees are determined by the Government and change twice per year, in line with the pension increases.

Bed-based: 85% of single aged care pension
Home-based: 17.5% of single aged care pension

The TCP Coordinator can provide more detailed information about the current fees.

Referral

Speak to your inpatient health care professional about a referral to this program.