Accredited till June 2016

Hospital Policies

No Lift policy

A “No Lift Policy” has been implemented at The Surgery Centre to protect both patients and staff from injuries resulting from unsafe lifting practices and procedures. Please comply with hospital personnel’s instructions in regard to moving or relaxing yourself, as special lifting equipment and techniques may be required to move or transfer you from one position to another safely.

Smoking policy

The Surgery Centre is a smoke free hospital. Smoking is not permitted in the Medica Centre building or on its grounds.

Patients’ rights & responsibilities

The Surgery Centre is committed to delivering the highest possible standard of health care. All patients have rights and responsibilities when seeking medical treatment and care. We have provided below a list of your rights in relation to your ongoing treatment and care.

Patients’ rights

Access to Care – You have the right to:

Receive treatment appropriate to your health needs
Request a doctor of your choice
Request a second opinion

Standard of health – You have the right to:

Treatment directed and supervised by competent and qualified health professionals
Know the names and professional status of staff providing care
Dignity, courtesy and respect in all interactions with staff
Care, treatment and service which is sensitive to your cultural and religious values and beliefs

Parents/guardian – You have the right to:

Exercise all rights if you are the parent or guardian of a child
Choose to stay with your child at all times, except when clinical reasons dictate
Make decisions regarding consent to treatment of your child if under 14 years. After this age children may seek treatment and provide consent or make decisions jointly with their parents/guardian

Informed consent – Patients have the right to:

Refuse recommended treatments
Choose which of the treatments offered they wish to take
Withdraw consent to treatment at any time
Refuse to have treatment, which is experimental
Leave the hospital at any time. If they leave without hospital consent, the patient is responsible for any injury or illness caused or aggravated by their own action
Provide consent before any treatment commences except in circumstances permitted by law

Right to information

You have the right to access information contained in your medical record. The Surgery Centre provides such access in accordance with relevant legislative and policy guidelines. While in hospital you may contact your nursing unit manager for assistance, or after discharge contact the Medical Records department.

Patients’ responsibilities

You have the responsibility to:

Find out about your condition and treatment, including the range of treatments that may be available to you
Know your medical history including details of any medication you are taking
Answer questions about your health frankly and honestly
Discuss any problems you feel may be affecting your health or medical condition
Provide comprehensive and accurate health information to enable optimal care
Cooperate fully with the doctor and clinical team in all aspects of your treatment
Follow your treatment and inform your provider when you are not able to do so
Keep appointments or let the provider know when you are unable to attend
Pay the fees of the hospital and your attending doctor
Consider the rights of other patients and staff members.

If you are aware of any particular condition that may cause undue harm to other patients or staff, this should be disclosed at time of admission.

When a health care worker becomes aware that a risk to public safety exists while managing a patient, they will be excused from breaching confidentiality when they disclose information about this risk in order to protect the public.

Personal information and privacy for patients

The Surgery Centre recognises and respects every patient’s right to privacy. We will collect and use the minimum amount of personal information needed for us to ensure that you receive a high level of health care. The Surgery Centre will always endeavour to manage your information to protect your privacy.

Personal information we usually hold:

Your name, address, telephone and email contact details
Health fund details
Date and country of birth
Next of kin
Occupation
Health information
The name and contact details of your General Practitioner and your referring doctor
Returned Service information
Religious beliefs or affiliations (if provided)
Marital status
Transaction details associated with our services
Indigenous status and language spoken at home (for the Department of Health).

What we do with personal information:

We will collect it discreetly.
We will store it securely.
We will only provide your personal information to people involved in your care. We ask all doctors and health professionals who consult with other health care providers outside The Surgery Centre to also protect your right to privacy. However, as we do not control your information in these situations maintaining your privacy will depend on them.
We will provide relevant information to your health fund, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Medicare Australia, Cancer Council, NSW Department of Health or to other entities when we are required to do so by law.
After removing details that could identify you, we may use the remaining information to assist with research and service improvement projects. We are also required to provide this kind of information to government agencies.
The Surgery Centre is a teaching hospital and we may use personal information in the training and education of medical, nursing and other allied health students.
We will destroy our record of your information when it has become too old to be useful or when we are no longer required by law to retain it.
We may use the information to contact you. By providing your mail and/or email address, we assume permission to use this address for administrative communications (e.g.. receipts) regarding your hospital visit. We will not send your health information via email.

Your rights

You may give consent for us to use your personal information to provide you with health care services, or you may withdraw consent at any time.
If you withdraw consent for The Surgery Centre to use your personal information, this may reduce our ability to provide you with services.
You may ask us to limit access to your information. If you have a specific requirement for restricting access by someone to your information, please inform us about this as soon as possible.
You may ask us to give you (or another individual) access to your personal information. In most cases we will allow you to have access to your personal information. We may charge a fee for providing printed copies of reports. We may not provide you (or your responsible person) with access to your personal information if a doctor feels that it may be harmful to do so.
You may ask us to correct any error in your personal information.
You may make a privacy-related complaint if you feel that the Hospital has not kept your information confidential or has not maintained your privacy - by telephoning the Director of Clinical Services (02) 9598 0000.

Or you can write to: Director of Clinical Services The Surgery Centre PO Box 571 Hurstville NSW 1481

You may contact the Privacy Commissioner if you are not satisfied that the Hospital has resolved your complaint.