Preparing for your hospital visit
We’re committed to making your visit at Sundew Day Surgery as comfortable and pleasant as possible. Your doctor will arrange the date of your admission, explain your procedure and guide you through the consent form. Please bring this with you on the day of your admission. Before giving your consent to the procedure, make sure you have received as much information as you require to make this decision.
Please complete the Online Admission Form by clicking on the link above.
We can then register your details, and depending on the date of your admission, confirm your place on the operating theatre list. We will also check your health fund status, if applicable. Our friendly admissions team are available to help you with your paperwork if needed. Please complete your admission paperwork as early as possible, so we can plan your care.
Depending on your surgeon’s instructions to the hospital, someone from our team will be in touch to confirm your admission time.
Please read through the information below to properly prepare for your surgery. You can also download a copy of our patient information brochure below.
Sundew Day Surgery Endoscopy Suite
If you are having an endoscopy procedure with us, please follow this link to information specific to your admission, including information on our Gastroenterology service.
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Patient admission form
If you have any questions about your admission, please contact our hospital staff on 08 6118 6371, who can answer any questions you may have about your hospital visit.
Please complete your admission form by clicking on the Online Admission button provided below. We ask you to complete this at least 7 days prior to your admission so that we have sufficient time to prepare for your hospital visit.
A copy of our Patient Information Brochure can be also be downloaded below.
Please read through this information properly in preparation for your surgery.
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Before your surgery
What you need to do:
- It is a requirement on discharge that you have a responsible carer to accompany you home after your procedure and stay with you overnight. Please contact the hospital if you have any questions regarding this. If you are unable to make this arrangement, your procedure may be cancelled.
- Commence fasting at the time advised by your doctor. When the fasting period begins, you must not chew, eat or drink anything. If you have any questions about how you should take your regular medications, please contact your referring doctor.
- 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.
Remember: 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.
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What to bring
- Your Medicare card, and where relevant your Health Insurance membership card, Veterans’ Affairs card and Pensioner Concession card
- Any medications you are currently taking (or a medication chart if coming from a care facility)
- Advanced care directives if applicable
- Any recent and relevant X-rays, scans and test results
- Power of Attorney, Enduring Guardianship and Advance Care Directive documentation (if applicable)
You’ll also need to make sure you wear loose, comfortable clothing.
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What not to bring
- Please leave all valuables at home
- Please do not wear make-up, nail polish or jewellery
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Fasting
Before you undergo an anaesthetic, you will need to avoid eating or drinking anything for a specific period of time. This ensures your safety and protects your airways during surgery. Please communicate with your Doctor or Anaesthetist, who can advise when your fasting period should begin.
We will give you a snack and light refreshment in the recovery area after your surgery. If you are staying with us overnight, we will bring this to you when you have been admitted to your room.
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Medications
Ask your doctor whether you should take your prescribed medications on the morning of your procedure. If you are taking diabetes and blood thinning medication, please discuss with your Anaesthetist.
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Smoking
Do not smoke on the day of your procedure. This includes vaping products. Sundew Day Surgery is a smoke-free environment, so if you are staying with us overnight, you may want to discuss a nicotine replacement therapy with your doctor.
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Getting here and parking
You will need a responsible adult to take you home from the hospital on the day of your procedure. Sundew Day Surgery is located at 24 Sundew Rise, north of the river off Joondalup Drive, and offers ample free parking on site.
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Admission
On your day of surgery, please proceed to our reception area and let our friendly staff know you have arrived. We respect your time, and as we guide you through the admission process you will have the opportunity to discuss any concerns you or your carer may have.
We will confirm your name, date of birth, admitting details and doctor. These standard identification procedures will be repeated throughout the day to ensure your safety.
Remember: you’ll need to pay any out of pocket expenses at the time of your admission. Read more about this in the section below on billing and private health insurance.
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Billing and health insurance
If you have private health insurance, we will check your level of cover and inform you of any excess or out of pocket amount that is payable prior to admission. It’s a good idea to contact your private health fund to check any exclusions or restrictions on specific treatments. They can answer any questions, and may be able to upgrade your policy if needed.
If you do not have private health insurance, you will be required to pay the full amount for your private day surgery admission. There is no rebate from Medicare for private day surgery charges.
You may also receive separate accounts from your surgeon, surgeon assistant, anaesthetist and pathologist for their services related to your treatment.
Third party claims
Approval and acceptance of any third party claims will need to be finalised prior to admission or you will need to make the full payment (apart from ancillary charges) on admission. This includes all WorkCover and TAC claims.
Making payments
Before your surgery we will advise you of any out of pocket expenses relating to your hospital admission. These out of pocket expenses will need to be paid on admission prior to your surgery by Visa, MasterCard or EFTPOS. Please note we do not accept personal or business cheques.
Questions to ask your health insurer
Before you have surgery, please contact your private health insurer and check whether you are covered for surgery. We have provided a guide to the questions you should ask.
It is your responsibility to confirm your level of cover with your health insurance fund (including excess, co-payments, exclusions and other related policy costs) before you are admitted to our day surgery.
Please ask your health fund to provide you with a statement regarding each of the following:
- The rate of reimbursement for each of the expected charges for the specific insurance policy you hold
- Whether yourplanned procedure or operation is within a waiting or exclusion period for your policy
- Whether your admission or treatment is covered under your health fund’s no gap or gap cover scheme.
You may incur out of pocket costs from your Doctor, Surgeon, Anaesthetist and/or Pathologist, or from other health practitioners associated with your care. It is important that you check for any out of pocket costs with these practitioners directly, as we areunable to provide any advice on this.
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After your surgery
Day surgery
You must have a responsible adult to collect you from Sundew Day Surgery, and stay with you for 24 hours. It’s important that your carer remains contactable at all times during your surgery. We will call them approximately 30 minutes before you’re discharged. Depending on your individual needs, your carer may be asked to remain in the hospital for the duration of your admission.
We’ll give you and your carer your detailed discharge instructions. Please follow these to ensure the best outcome from your procedure. Your doctor or anaesthetist will advise you on any post-operative medications required.
Short-stay surgery
If you are staying with us overnight, once you have recovered from the anaesthetic, we will make you comfortable in one of our private patient rooms.
You can have visitors between 10am and 8pm, but we do suggest you keep visits to a minimum so you can rest. If you have special needs and require a carer to stay with you, or would like your infant to stay with you, please discuss this with us before admission.
As an inpatient, you will also enjoy:
- A healthy meal, which can be tailored to your special dietary requirements
- Free WiFi
- A choice of magazines and reading materials
Discharge time is 10am.
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 Sundew Day Surgery.
Infection
Please notify Sundew Day Surgery 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). Learn more about hand hygiene.
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Privacy
As a patient of Sundew Day Surgery 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 Australian Privacy Principles and legislation that governs how hospitals handle your personal and health information. For more information, read our Patient Information & Pre-Admission Booklet, and download the Australian Privacy Principles fact sheet.
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Quality & Safety
Sundew Day Surgery 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 Sundew Day Surgery. 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 Sundew Day Surgery, 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 July to September 2024, Sundew Day Surgery achieved a Net Promoter Score of 91.
Some of the more detailed results from patient feedback during this period revealed:
- 99% of surveyed patients expressed satisfaction with the quality of care received
- 98% 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
Sundew Day Surgery follows strict infection control procedures. Our staff take every precaution to prevent infections and our antibiotic usage is monitored against best practice. As most 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.
Sundew Day Surgery 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 Sundew Day Surgery, 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 July to September 2024
During the period from July to September 2024, Sundew Day Surgery provided care to 1163 patients. Through the diligent efforts of our doctors, staff, patients and visitors, we are proud to report zero post-surgical infections during this time.
Hand hygiene
Sundew Day Surgery is committed to the Hand Hygiene Australia program. We conduct regular audits to ensure compliance throughout our facility.
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 Sundew Day Surgery, we use auditors who are accredited by Hand Hygiene Australia to record whether hand hygiene has been performed correctly at our hospital.
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 Sundew Day Surgery, we are committed to providing a safe environment for all patients. Between July and September 2024, we cared for 1163 patients. We are delighted to report there were no patient falls during this time.
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 Sundew Day Surgery, we have processes in place to mitigate this risk and deliver a high standard of care. From July to September 2024, we cared for 1163 patients with zero returning to theatre.
Medication Safety
Safe medication management is important to us at Sundew Day Surgery. 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 Sundew Day Surgery 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
Should errors in medication administration occur, they are captured in our hospital’s incident reporting system and investigated. We are pleased to confirm there were zero medication errors at our hospital for the last reporting period.
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@sundewdaysurgery.com.au
Open Disclosure
At Sundew Day Surgery, 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.
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Complaints, concerns and feedback
We value your thoughts and suggestions. If you have any feedback about your experience at Sundew Day Surgery, please complete the online patient survey below.
If you’d like to make a formal complaint, please contact our CEO, Bronwyn Grant, via email on admin@sundewdaysurgery.com.au.
If your complaint is unresolved, you can contact:
Department of Health
PO Box 8172
Perth Business Centre
Perth
WA 6849
Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDSCO)
PO Box B61
Perth
WA 6838
Phone: (08) 6551 7600
Frequently asked questions
You are welcome to get in touch with any specific questions you have. But here are some answers to common queries.
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Is there parking at Sundew Day Surgery?
Sundew Day Surgery is located at 24 Sundew Rise, north of the river off Joondalup Drive, and offers ample free parking on site.
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Do I need to arrive earlier than my set admission time?
No. We allow time for the admissions process when your arrival time is confirmed.
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How long will I be at the hospital for?
Your length of stay will depend on your procedure and your surgeon’s requirements. We will advise you of any delays and provide your carer with at least 30 minutes notice before discharge.
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Why do I have to fast?
It’s important not to eat or drink anything for a specified period of time before an anaesthetic in order to protect your airway and lungs during your procedure.
We will give you a snack and light refreshments in the recovery area after your surgery.
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Why do I need a responsible adult to collect and stay with me?
Because of the medication you are administered during your anaesthetic, you need to have a responsible adult to take care of you after surgery. This includes ensuring your safety after discharge, escorting you home after your operation, and looking after you for 24 hours after your surgery. You cannot drive within 24 hours of your anaesthetic. Our nursing staff will confirm an appropriate discharge plan with you.
Our nursing staff will meet with your designated carer before we send you home, and go through written instructions for your wellbeing after discharge. If you do not have a designated carer to collect you, we may have to cancel your surgery. Please let us know if you have any concerns about this policy, and contact us as soon as possible if you are having any difficulty finding a carer.
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Why do I have to remove my jewellery and nail polish before surgery?
This is for your own safety. There is a risk of surgical burns with metal jewellery, including piercings. If you wish to leave your wedding ring on, we will tape it.
During surgery, your oxygen levels will be monitored with a probe placed on your finger and nail polish and acrylic nails can interfere with this.
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Will I see my doctor after my procedure?
This depends on your surgery. If you do not see your doctor straight after your procedure, we will make sure you have information about your post-operative appointment.
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Why do I need to pay an excess? I already paid my account to the doctor.
The account you paid to your doctor was for their services only, and is separate to your hospital costs. The excess you are required to pay to the hospital is the amount you elected to pay to reduce your Health Insurance premium costs. We’ve checked this with your health fund.
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Will I have something to eat after my procedure, as I had to fast before it?
Yes, light refreshments may be provided to you in discharge area based on your doctor’s post-operative instructions.
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Will you call my relative or carer to collect me after my day procedure?
Our staff will call your carer approximately 30 minutes prior to your discharge.
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What time will I be discharged if I stay overnight?
Discharge time is 10am.