Outpatient Guide
What You Should Bring
Your referral letter, NHIS or Private/Corporate insurance card, your current personal contact details (address / phone number / emergency contact details). Please ensure you bring with you any medication you are taking.
Arrival
On arrival at the hospital please report to the health information desk for registration. Your attendance card will be produced for you and an appointment scheduled for you to see a doctor. Incase of a revisit, an appointment card will be generated for you which you would need to show to the health information officer for booking.
For referral cases, especially from Government hospital’s using the LHIMS system, your referral letter and NHIA card is needed for registration and booking.
Please bring your appointment card on every occasion that you attend Hospital. If you have any disability which may affect you during your visit (for example hard of hearing), please notify the reception staff.
After registration and booking is complete, you will be referred to the triage desk specific to your clinic, all that is needed by the nursing staff is your attendance card to schedule you to see a doctor.
Medical staff
The medical staff work in teams, each under the direction of a Consultant. You will not necessarily see the same doctor each time, but the one you see will always be familiar with the details of previous visits.
Nursing Staff
Each clinic has a member of nursing staff available if you have any worries or concerns.
Medical Students
There may be medical students present during your consultation as part of their ongoing training. Please let us know if you would rather see the doctor alone.
Drugs
Please inform the Hospital if you are currently taking any tablets, medicines, or eye drops. These should be brought with you when you attend clinic.
If you are prescribed any medication by the Hospital, you will be required to proceed to the pharmacy for your drugs to be dispensed. However, if the drugs are not available a prescription will be printed for you.
Diagnostics
You are also advised to bring along lab test results and any other imaging results when attending the clinic. The only exception would be patients referred from a facility using LHIMS, since it can be imported.
If Laboratory tests and or imaging is requested, you are required to proceed the laboratory or radiology to carry out your tests. After tests are completed, they will be issued on the patient’s electronic folder.
Eye Clinics
If you are attending the eye clinic and you wear glasses for reading or for distance vision, please bring your glasses with you.
Departure
On completion of your consultation, please ensure that you make your next appointment with the receptionist (if necessary). If you would like any further information or advice, please ask your nurse.
Appointment Cancellations
If you are unable to keep your appointment, please inform us. If possible please give us at least 48 hours’ notice of your cancellation.
No Smoking Policy
Smoking is not permitted within the Hospital and the immediate vicinity i.e. entrances and exits. The result of your operation and treatment will be greatly improved if you stop smoking. It is best to stop at least 8 weeks before your operation.
Inpatient Guide
When You Arrive
If possible, please try to arrange for someone to accompany you to hospital, as it would be helpful for him or her to take away items that you won’t need during your stay.
You will be asked general information from the nursing staff, i.e. name, address, ethnicity, religion and your next of kin contact details. Please ensure that you bring this information with you.
It’s important that we ask these questions. It’s to make sure that we have up to date and accurate information about you and the patient. Recording things such as patients’ ethnicity helps to ensure we have an accurate picture of the patients we are treating and means the services we provide reflect the local population’s health needs.
On the ward
Each ward has its own routine and ward clerks and housekeepers on most wards are there to advise and help you during your stay. However, there is general information that would apply whichever hospital or ward you are going to be a patient in:
Staff identification
All hospital staff wear identification which shows their name, position and photograph. This is normally in the form of a plastic badge either clipped onto clothing or worn around the neck.
Smoking
Tamale Teaching Hospital operates a No Smoking Policy
Telephone calls
Nursing and midwifery staff would appreciate it if you could nominate one relative, carer or friend to telephone the ward to find out how you are and to pass the news on to others.
Mobile Phones
Mobile phones emit signals that will interfere with medical equipment and may cause harm to other patients. We therefore ask that all mobile phones be switched off in all ward and clinic areas of the hospital.
Mobile phones may be used outside of the hospital.
What to Bring
When coming for admission, we suggest you bring the following;
- Two sets of nightwear
- Dressing gown
- Slippers
- Toiletries
- Bath towel
- Flannel
- Tissues
- Reading and writing material
- Moist hand wipes
Please do not bring in:
- Valuables
- Alcohol
- Portable radios or sound systems
- Mobile phones
- Television sets
- Laptops
Most ward areas have television. You are welcome to bring personal stereos with earphones. Please do not bring in large amounts of cash or jewelry. The hospital cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to your personal property and disclaimer notices are on every ward.
Should you need to bring valuables into hospital with you, hand them immediately to the Ward In-charge Nurse upon admission who will give you an official receipt and ensure safe custody. Cash and jewelry will be immediately taken to the Patient Affairs Office for safe keeping. No valuables will be kept on the ward. Every effort will be made to hand the money deposited back in cash, however, if that is not possible, a cheque may have to be raised by our Finance department.
Medicines and Tablets
Please bring with you any medications, including creams and over the counter herbal and homoeopathic remedies that you are currently taking. This will help us to establish all your present medication quickly. A list or a computer printout of your medication from your referral facility is not sufficient. If you are on Warfarin, please bring in any records you may have.
Visitor Information
A patient can be visited during visiting hours
Infection Control
Tamale Teaching Hospital would like to encourage all visitors to use wash their hands upon entering and leaving the wards. This will help to reduce the spread of infections. Hand washing and using alcohol hand gel are two of the simplest and most effective ways of preventing cross infections and protecting patients, visitors and staff.
Going home
Staff will try to give you as much information as possible concerning your discharge in order that you can arrange to be collected by your relatives/carers. Please talk to staff if you are unable to make your own arrangements or are not fit enough to travel home alone.
Medicines/Wound dressings
If you have been prescribed any medication/dressings during your stay in hospital we will give you a supply to take home. No charge will be made for this. Should you need to continue this medication your GP will be advised of your medication so that they can issue further prescriptions. Please remember to collect any medication that you brought with you into hospital with you from the ward staff.
Patients’ property
Please ensure that all your valuables (i.e. cash, jewellery or pension books) that were deposited into the Patient Affairs Department for safekeeping, are returned to you before going home.
Medical certificates
Please ask the ward staff for any medical certificates you may need before leaving the ward.
Private Insurance / Corporate Insurance Partners
Below is a list of private and corporate insurance companies accepted in our facility.
- Premier Mutual Health
- Acacia
- Nationwide
- Gridco
- VRA
- Glico
Emergency Care
If you have an illness that is not life threatening, contact your General Practitioner first if possible. If your injury is not serious, you can get help from a clinic or primary hospital rather than going to an emergency department. This will allow the Emergency staff to concentrate on people with serious, life-threatening conditions and will save you a potentially long wait.
Patient Info Leaflets
The patient should understand that he/she is responsible for his/her own health and should therefore co-operate fully with healthcare providers.
The patient is responsible for:
- The patient should understand that he/she is responsible for his/her diagnosis, treatment, counselling, and rehabilitation purposes.
- Requesting additional information and or clarification regarding his/her health or treatment, which may not have been well understood.
- Complying with prescribed treatment, reporting adverse effects and adhering to follow up request.
- Information on his/her healthcare providers of ant anticipated problems in following prescribed treatment or advice.
- Obtaining all necessary information, which have a bearing on his/her management and treatment including all financial implications.
- Acquiring knowledge on preventive, promotive and simple curative practices and where necessary to seek early professional help.
- Maintaining safe and hygienic environment in order to promote good health.
- Respecting the rights of other patients/ clients and Health Service personnel
- Protecting the property of the hospital
NB: These rights and responsibilities shall be exercised by accredited and recognized representatives on behalf of minors and patients who are unable for whatever reasons to make informed decisions by themselves.
In all healthcare activities the patient’s dignity and interest is paramount.
Your Medical Records
The Privacy Rule gives you, with few exceptions, the right to inspect, review, and receive a copy of your medical records and billing records that are held by health plans and health care providers covered by the Privacy Rule.
Access to Medical Records
Only you or your personal representative has the right to access your records. A health care provider or health plan may send copies of your records to another provider or health plan as needed for treatment or payment or as authorized by you. However, the Privacy Rule does not require the health care provider or health plan to share information with other providers or plans.
