Before any surgical procedure or admission, you will need to have authorisation from your medical aid.
We will gladly assist you in obtaining authorisation. If you do however want to get authorisation yourself, please contact our rooms for all the correct information your medical aid will require.
Before being admitted for your procedure, you will need to do pre-admission.
You can either do this online or you can visit the hospital’s reception desk.
If you want to do your pre-admission online be sure you do this more than 48hours before the procedure.
- For Milnerton Mediclinic visit www.mediclinic.co.za and follow the appropriate links
- For Blaauwberg Netcare visit www.netcare.co.za and follow the appropriate links
We will need you to report to the hospital’s main reception, 3 hours before your scheduled procedure.
From there a receptionist will open a folder for you, and a porter will take you to the appropriate ward.
In the ward you will be seen by the nursing staff. They will take your observations (Blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, sugar etc.).
Unfortunately the paperwork is not quite done yet... You will still get ask a few questions by the nursing staff. Please be patient. All these questions are to ensure your safety during the surgery.
You will have to sign consent. Please make sure you are informed about the procedure. If you have any questions or doubts, please raise them to the nursing staff that will gladly assist you.
The anaesthetist will see you pre-operative. Please inform her/him of all your medical conditions and allergies.
A few things to do at home:
- Please remove all jewellery
- Make sure you don’t have any false nails or nail polish on your fingers
- Please leave all your valuables with a family member
- Make sure you remain without food for 8 hours before the procedure
- You can still have clear fluids until 4 hours before the procedure
You are now ready for surgery. You will be accompanied to theatre by a porter and a nurse.
Please understand that in extreme cases, and only for emergencies, your theatre case might be postponed for a few hours. We will inform the ward staff in such a case.
In theatre, your scrub nurse will come and take over from the ward staff. You will be taken to your theatre where you will be welcomed by the team assisting me, consisting of your anaesthetist and a few more nurses.
Before you know it, you will be sound asleep.
Please rest assured: You are in good hands.
When you first wake up, you will be in the recovery room. You will most likely not remember this, but only remember waking up in the ward.
On your return, the nursing staff in the ward will do their best to make you feel comfortable. The anaesthetist and I will have written a script that includes pain medication and medication for nausea. Please inform the nurses if you are in pain.
Depending on your procedure, you will have to stay in hospital for a night or two. During this time, I will see you once a day to monitor your progress. This process might include a few special investigations e.g. blood tests and x-rays.
Once I am happy with your progress, you are eating well, mobilizing, passing stool and your pain is controllable by tablets only, I will discharge you.
You will be discharged with a TTO: This is 7 days’ worth of medication, usually covered by your medical aid as part of your hospital stay. You will also receive a script to take home if you require medication for longer than a week. Please inform me if you need a sicknote, I will gladly assist.
After I have signed your discharge, it mostly takes about 2 hours for your discharge to be completed. This includes the nurses to complete their paperwork, your IV line to be removed, your dressing to be changed one last time and your medication to be ordered from the pharmacy.
One your way out of the hospital please visit the reception desk to sign out of hospital.
I like to see my patients post operatively. Mostly after 2 weeks, to evaluate their wounds and to remove the stitches, but in some cases it might be a bit earlier.
Please pass by my rooms on your way home to schedule this follow up visit.
If you are concerned about the progress of your recovery any time before your follow up visit, please contact my rooms ASAP, and we can arrange either a telephonic or face-to-face consultation.