Dalcross Patient Policy

No Smoking Policy

In order to provide a safe environment for patients, parents and staff, this hospital is a non-smoking hospital. Parents and visitors are requested not to smoke while attending or staying in the hospital; however, in exceptional circumstances where parents/visitors consider it is necessary to smoke, they must use the designated smoking area. The designated smoking area for parents and visitors is at the front of the hospital, to the left of the main entrance. Your cooperation with this policy is requested.

Charter of Patients’ Rights And Responsibilities

Each patient, whilst in the care of the health care providers at Dalcross Private Hospital, has the right to:

• Quality care appropriate to their needs
  
• Full information about their state of health and about available treatments
  
• Be treated with dignity and respect, without exploitation, abuse or neglect
  
• Personal privacy
  
• Be maintained in a safe, secure environment
  
• Be treated and accepted as an individual with personal preferences
  
• Freedom of speech
  
• Maintain control over and about their own body and health
  
• Information about their rights, care and accommodation, and any other information which relates to them personally
• Make complaints and have access to advocacy.

Each patient has the responsibility to:

• Respect the rights and needs of fellow patients
  
• Respect the rights of staff
  
• Their own health and well being, to inform their medical practitioner, as far as they are able, about their relevant medical history and their current health.

Privacy Policy Statement

The Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 extends the operation of the Privacy Act 1988 to the private health sector throughout Australia. Dalcross Private Hospital is committed to adhering to the National Privacy Principles, to ensure that individual information is used only for purposes consented to by the individual.

Information Collection:

• Dalcross Private Hospital collects personal information that is necessary to provide an effective service
  
• The information is collected from the individual and/or relative/carer, medical practitioners and other allied health care providers

Information Security And Storage:

• There are security safeguards in place at Dalcross Private Hospital to protect health information. Such safeguards include care of individual information whilst that individual is receiving treatment and on discharge from the hospital

Information Use And Disclosure:

• Personal information is used to plan for ongoing treatment and care for the
  individual
  
• Personal information will be disclosed where legally required eg submission of data
  to Department of Health, cancer registry, supplier prosthesis registers, etc
  
• Additional use of information, if consent is obtained from the individual, includes:
  • Informing next of kin of treatment outcomes, to obtain consent to necessary treatment when the individual is unable to provide such consent
    
  • To assist in the development of service delivery and planning facilities of the hospital
    
  • For research and development projects undertaken by or in conjunction with Dalcross Private Hospital
    
  • For education purposes
    
  • To assist Dalcross Private Hospital undertake quality improvement activities

Consent To Release Information:

• Each patient is provided with a release of personal information consent form. The
  form is retained as a permanent part of the medical record relevant to a particular
  admission