Corymbia Day Hospital

Preparing for your hospital visit

• Patient pre-admission forms

  If you have any questions about your admission, please contact our hospital staff on 03 8769 8555, who can answer any questions you may have about your hospital visit.

  • Please return your admission forms at least 7 days prior to your admission. This gives us time to prepare for your hospital visit. If you have not received a copy of this form, you can complete it online by clicking on the button below.

  Online Pre-admission form
• Before your surgery

  Please arrange for a responsible adult to accompany you home and stay with you for 24 hours after your surgery. We cannot discharge you following an anaesthetic unless you have a designated carer, so please let us know as soon as possible if you have any difficulty finding someone. We can discuss the options available to you, such as finding a nursing agency to provide a carer.

  Please contact your doctor prior to surgery if your health has deteriorated, as we may need to postpone the procedure until you’re feeling better.

  For 24 hours after an anaesthetic, you will not be able to:

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

  Online admission form
• What to bring
  • Your Medicare card, and where relevant, your Health Insurance membership card, Veterans’ Affairs card, or Pensioner Concession card
  • A list of medications you are currently taking
  • Any recent and relevant X-rays, scans and test results
  • Any asthma puffer or CPAP mask if required
  • Power of Attorney, Enduring Guardianship and Advance Care Directive documentation (if applicable)
  • If you have one, your advanced care plan and/or treatment-limiting orders

  You also need to wear loose, comfortable clothing.

• What not to bring
  • Leave valuables at home
  • Do not wear make-up, nail polish or jewellery, and remove all body piercings
  • No hairspray or hairpins should be worn
• Fasting

  It’s important not to eat or drink anything for a specified period of time before an anaesthetic for safety reasons, as this will protect your airway and lungs while you are asleep. During your pre-admission phone call, we will let you know when this fasting period should begin.

  We will give you a snack and fluids when you are in the recovery room after your surgery.

• Medications

  Check with your surgeon, anaesthetist or GP whether you should take your prescribed medications on the morning of your procedure. You can take them with a sip of water if fasting. If you take medication for diabetes or blood thinning agents, please discuss this with your surgeon prior to surgery. The nursing staff will need to confirm instructions with your doctor.

• Smoking

  It is important that you do not smoke for at least 24 hours prior to your surgery.

• Getting here and parking

  There is free car parking onsite for patients and their carers. The hospital is located opposite the Dandenong Public Hospital, which has a pay parking area available.

• Admission

  Please inform staff of your arrival. The reception staff will review your preadmission paper work to ensure we have the correct details and to confirm your carer and discharge arrangements. You will be asked what procedure you are having done today. This is to confirm that all the details we have received regarding your admission are correct.

  Every effort will be made to ensure you are not kept waiting before your procedure, but there are times when other patients require longer periods in theatre than we anticipate. We’ll let you and your carer know if there are any delays and how your expected discharge time might be affected. It’s a good idea to bring a book or something to keep you occupied just in case.

• Billing and private health insurance

  It is important that you check with your health insurance company that you are financially covered for your operation. With recent changes to policies, some items (operations) have been removed from some health insurance plans. The office staff will also contact your health fund and will notify you of any out of pocket costs during the pre-admission phone call.

  If you are having elective cosmetic surgery, your surgeon will advise you on all fees.

  On admission, any outstanding amount not covered by your health fund (co-payment or excess) will need to be paid. We accept all credit cards except Diners Club.

  If you do not have private health insurance, you will be required to pay the full amount for your day surgery admission. We will confirm this amount with you during your pre-op phone call.

  You will also receive separate accounts from your surgeon, surgeon’s assistant and the anaesthetist for their services related to your treatment. This is in addition to your hospital costs.

  If you are a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) patient, we will lodge a claim with the DVA for you. If your surgery is part of a WorkCover or Third Party (TAC) claim, you will need to make the full payment (apart from ancillary charges) on admission – unless we have received written approval for admission from WorkCover or TAC.

  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.

  Are you covered?
• After your surgery

  You must have a responsible adult to collect you from Corymbia Day Hospital after your procedure, and stay with you for 24 hours.

  We will let your carer know your approximate discharge time, and give them your discharge instructions, which are discussed with you both prior to leaving.  It is important you follow these instructions to ensure the best outcome from your procedure. Your anaesthetist will give you a prescription for any pain relief and/or antibiotics required after surgery. These may be required soon after being discharged, so pick this medication up on your way home.

  One of our nurses will call you on the next business day after surgery to check how you are recovering. You should also ensure you have a post-operative appointment with your surgeon. This is usually organised on discharge.

  Preventing falls

  After your procedure and anaesthetic you may be at risk of falling or tripping. Take care when moving around and we encourage you to rest and let your carer assist you for the remainder of the day.

  Nausea

  This is less common with modern anaesthetics. If it does occur, it should only be temporary. If nausea persists, avoid food but maintain fluids. If it does not resolve within 24 hours, it is important that you contact your doctor.

  Sore throat

  This may occur due to your anaesthetist assisting with your breathing. It usually disappears within 24 hours. Simple pain relief may help relieve this.

  Tender arm or hand at injection site

  This may occur due to irritation of the vein or slight bruising from the needle or the drugs injected, and can persist for several days. If your arm or hand look red or inflamed, consult your doctor and notify the hospital.

  Infection

  Please notify the Director of Nursing at Corymbia Day Hospital should any redness, swelling, pain or discharge be noticed from your wound – or if you visit a doctor and are prescribed antibiotics for an associated infection within 30 days of your procedure.

  Hand hygiene

  We advise patients and carers to wash hands prior to attending wound care or administering eye drops (as per doctor’s instructions).

• Privacy

  As a patient of Corymbia Day Hospital your privacy and dignity will be maintained at all times. We hold medical records relating to your treatment, and the content of these records will only be divulged with your consent or where permitted or authorised by law

  We will 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

  Corymbia Day 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 our Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) and General Manager/Director of Nursing.

  Patient feedback and quality of care

  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. Patient feedback plays a crucial role in maintaining and enhancing the quality of care provided at Corymbia Day Hospital. By actively listening to our patients, we gain valuable insights into their experiences, allowing us to make informed decisions about how to improve our services. Our quality outcomes are reviewed by our MAC before being made available for consumer feedback.

  We encourage patients to confidentially share their thoughts through a post-operative survey sent via email, while guests and visitors can easily provide feedback through our website. This continuous process of collecting and reviewing feedback ensures that we remain responsive to the needs and expectations of our patients, aligning with the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards.

  One of the key metrics we use to gauge patient satisfaction is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS is a simple way to measure how happy our patients are with the care they receive. At Corymbia Day Hospital, patients are asked: “How likely are you to recommend our hospital to friends and family if they need similar care or treatment?”

  Patients answer this on a scale from 0 to 10, with:

  • 10 being ‘extremely likely’ and
  • 0 being ‘not likely at all’

  Scores of:

  • 9 or 10 are considered ‘promoters’ (very happy patients)
  • 7 or 8 are ‘passives’ (neutral), and
  • anything below 7 is a ‘detractor’ (unhappy patient)

  The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. According to global NPS standards, an NPS score above 70 is considered very high and shows the service is world-class. From October to December 2024, Corymbia Day Hospital achieved a Net Promoter Score of 89.

  Some of the more detailed results from patient feedback during this period revealed:

  • 100% of surveyed patients expressed satisfaction with the quality of care received
  • 99% praised our staff’s communication
  • 98% felt safe whilst in our care

  These results highlight the effectiveness of our efforts and provide us with a clear direction for further enhancing our services.

  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 prevention & control

  Corymbia Day Hospital follows strict infection control procedures. Our staff take every precaution to prevent infections and our antibiotic usage is monitored against best practice. As patients are discharged the same day, we try to get feedback from your specialist or GP if any infections occur. We encourage you to contact us directly if you have any concerns regarding this.

  Corymbia Day 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 prevent infection?

  At Corymbia Day Hospital, patients and visitors are part of the healthcare team. There are several 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 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 the equipment has not been cleaned properly.
  • Stop smoking before any surgery or procedure, as smoking increases the risk of infection.

  Infection Prevention Results from October to December 2024

  During the period October to December 2024, Corymbia Day Hospital cared for 885 patients, there was one post-surgical infection to report. Our hospital will continue to review and improve the current strategies we have in place to minimise post-surgical infections.

  Hand hygiene

  Corymbia Day Hospital is committed to the Hand Hygiene Australia program. We conduct regular audits to ensure compliance throughout our facility. At Corymbia Day Hospital, we use auditors who are accredited by Hand Hygiene Australia to record whether hand hygiene has been performed correctly at our hospital. Our hand hygiene compliance rate was 89% for the last reporting period.

  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 to 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 Organisation’s guidelines for hand hygiene, which specify the following times when healthcare 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 Corymbia Day Hospital, we use auditors who are accredited by Hand Hygiene Australia to record whether hand hygiene has been performed correctly at our hospital. The Hand Hygiene result for the hospital was 86% during this period.

  Learn more about this program here.

  Falls within the hospital

  Patient falls are a leading cause of hospital-acquired injury and often prolong or complicate hospital stays. Patients may experience a fall because they are weakened by a medical condition or after an accident or surgery.

  At Corymbia Day Hospital, we are committed to providing a safe environment for all patients. Between October and December 2024, we provided care for a total of 885 patients, during which a one patient fall was reported.

  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 bones, heels or other bony areas of the body.

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

  Unexpected Returns to Theatre

  An unexpected return to the operating theatre is a serious event that may occur if complications arise after surgery. This can happen for various reasons, including infections, bleeding, or other unforeseen issues. At Corymbia Day Hospital, we have processes in place to mitigate this risk and deliver a high standard of care. From October to December 2024, we cared for many patients and are pleased to report zero patients returned to theatre. Our hospital remains dedicated to reviewing and improving our strategies to minimise returns to theatre.

  Medication Safety

  Safe medication management is important to us at Corymbia Day Hospital. There are many systems in use throughout the hospital to support and promote safety in supplying and administering medications and monitoring their effects.

  Staff at Corymbia Day Hospital follow strict guidelines to ensure that all medications are administered appropriately and accurately. 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

  There was one medication error reported at our hospital during this time. We remain dedicated to capturing administration errors for investigations regarding medications in the future.

  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 our General Manager/Director of Nursing at don@corymbiaday.com.au

  Open Disclosure

  At Corymbia Day Hospital, we are dedicated to ensuring transparency and trust through our Open Disclosure process. Open Disclosure involves clear and honest communication about any incidents that might cause concern during your treatment. It’s important to know that most issues in healthcare that don’t go as planned are minor and are often identified and addressed before they impact you.

  In cases where something small doesn’t go to plan, your doctor or nurse will inform you about what happened and how it was managed, just as they would discuss other aspects of your care. If a more serious incident occurs, we will inform you as soon as possible and arrange an Open Disclosure meeting to thoroughly discuss the situation. This process includes explaining what went wrong, why it happened, expressing our regret, and providing the necessary support.

  Our goal is to keep you fully informed and supported, addressing any concerns and working with you to improve our services. If you believe a serious incident has occurred that has not been acknowledged, please speak with your doctor, nurse or other healthcare staff, as we value your feedback in enhancing our care.

  Please click on the buttons below to download more information on Open Disclosure or to obtain a copy of our Open Disclosure Policy.

  Nexus Quality and Safety Policy Open Disclosure fact sheet Open Disclosure Policy
• Our commitment to child safety

  Corymbia Day Hospital is committed to the Child Safe Standards which came into effect on July 1, 2022.

  We want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, and this is entrenched in the way we train our staff and volunteers.

  We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children.

  We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously, and consistent with our robust child safety policies and procedures.

  We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously.

  Our organisation is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early and removing and reducing these risks.

  Our organisation has robust human resources and recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers.

  Our organisations are committed to regularly training and educating our staff and volunteers on child abuse risks.

  We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers.

  We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability.

  We have specific policies, procedures and training in place that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.

  If you believe a child is at immediate risk of abuse phone 000.

  Please contact our General Manager / Director of Nursing via the button below if you wish to view the full policy, or if you have a question or complaint. You may also contact the Victorian ombudsman at the link below.

  Contact Us Victorian Ombudsman
• Complaints, concerns and feedback

  We appreciate your honest feedback, as we are always looking for ways to improve our patients’ experience. You can provide feedback here. You may also receive a questionnaire with a reply paid envelope which are sent out to patients throughout the year.

  If there is any aspect of your care that you are not happy with, please contact the Director of Nursing Jasmine Choo at DON@corymbiaday.com.au. We will promptly acknowledge and investigate any complaints, and communicate the outcome and any recommendations with you.

  If your complaint is unresolved, you can contact:

  Health Complaints Commissioner
  Level 26, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne
  Victoria, 3000, Australia

  Phone: 1300 582 113

  Feedback form