Inpatient Services
You will be referred to rehabilitation if your doctor thinks you would benefit from time in hospital to undergo assessment of your condition or for rehabilitation. You may be referred from home by your GP or from another ward in the hospital if you need more time and therapy to regain strength to get home.
What To Expect
Although there are doctors involved with your care they may only see you once or twice a week if you are medically stable but can visit more often if needed. They are always happy to talk with you or your family. Your nurse can set up a time to suit.
The time you spend on the ward depends on the progress you make and whether or not you benefit from daily rehabilitation with the therapists. The purpose of rehabilitation is to regain independence so you will be encouraged to do as much for yourself as possible as you recover. Depending on your problems and abilities, you are encouraged to be as independent as possible during your time on the ward.
We are really enthusiastic about you:
- bringing in your own clothes and getting dressed every day
- sitting out of bed during the day and resting back in bed only when necessary
- cooperating in working with the rest of the team to get you back to doing what you want
- having your meals in the dining room or with other clients where possible
- you may be given an exercise programme by a physiotherapist that you may be required to undertake yourself with guidance from a physiotherapy team member.
Before going home you may have a home visit where the occupational therapist takes you home for about an hour to see how you manage with day to day things in your own home to assess what help or equipment might be needed. Before discharge, you and your family may wish to have a meeting with staff if you want to discuss what has happened to you and what help you might need at home.
Older Persons Outpatient Services
Your GP will refer you to this service if they think you would benefit from seeing a doctor who specialises in the care of older people to assist with any difficulties related to illnesses affecting you or to offer advice regarding your medical condition. Sometimes this will involve a home visit or being seen in clinic.
We commonly see people who have multiple medical problems and medications who are at risk of losing their independence e.g. people with falls, memory problems, continence issues, stroke or mobility problems.
The waiting times to be seen in our clinic range from 1 week to 3 months depending on the urgency of the condition described in your GP's referral letter.
You will see either a geriatrician or a registrar (a doctor training to become a specialist) with supervision. Before seeing the doctor, you will be seen by a nurse who will ask you some questions and take some recordings such as blood pressure and weight. The average length of a clinic appointment is 1 hour with tests occurring afterwards often taking another 30 mins. During the clinic appointment you will be asked about any symptoms you have as well as your past medical history. Please bring all your medications with you, and if possible bring a support person. It is very common in this clinic to be asked a series of questions to test your memory. You will have a physical examination and are likely to have blood tests, an ECG (tracing of your heart) and a chest x-ray, depending on what problems you have.
Allied Health Services
Following discharge from the inpatient service, patients may be referred to the Allied Health team for ongoing care.
Patients are also referred by their GP or health professional, if they are needing input from the Allied Health team.
