Admission Procedure
Emergency Referrals and Admissions
Although referrals are generally arranged through a health care professional, (often your General Practitioner, therapist or private psychiatrist), many of our patients are self referred or referred by family or friends.
Should you wish to enquire about an admission please contact the clinic. If you have not been referred to a particular Psychiatrist here, your treating Psychiatrist will be the Doctor who is on call for the day of your admission.
Crescent Clinic accepts emergency referrals on a 24 hour basis, SUBJECT TO NURSING ASSESSMENT and provides full psychiatric assessment and therapeutic care for such patients. For after hours emergencies (after 17:00), please contact +27 (0)11 792 6978.
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT REFERRAL TO A MEDICAL FACILITY MAY BE RECOMMENDED IN SUCH EMERGENCY CASES BASED ON NURSES ASSESSMENT.
For further information on the Programmes we offer, please look at the pages for each Unit.
What to Expect on Admission
We take pride in the services we offer and remain committed to being active partners in your treatment. However, we need you to be just as active in this partnership. Treatment involves a willingness to talk about the issues in your life with honesty; it involves striving to develop new methods of coping, and it certainly takes courage, motivation and great determination.
Upon admission to the Clinic, there are naturally a number of initial assessments that will need to be performed. You may have an initial assessment, followed by a meeting with the nurses, and then the doctor/ psychiatrist. Our nursing staff will require some details from you in order to formulate a nursing care plan. A doctor will interview you and assess your current clinical needs. They may also require blood samples for routine tests and screens. A consultant from our therapy services team will assess you and determine which therapy programme you should undertake during your treatment at the Clinic. You might only take part in these programmes at a later stage - if you need a longer settling in period for clinical reasons.
A few of the questions posed to you by the doctors or nurses, might seem odd at first. They need to ascertain what factors might pose a risk to your recovery and again to assist the team in formulating the right treatment plan.
Your therapy programme that you will attend at the clinic forms a fundamental base of your overall treatment. You will be assessed as soon as practically suitable and appropriate after your admission. An initial programme will be discussed and agreed with you. It may change during the course of your treatment, depending on your progress and needs.
What to bring
We recommend you bring as little as possible and no items of value. We hope the checklist below is helpful:
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Comfortable & Casual Clothing (bring everyday wear that is appropriate for groups, relaxation and light exercise activities) |
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Nightclothes, slippers & dressing gown (for sleeping only) |
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Padlock (You can purchase a padlock at the reception for R30 but we advise you bring your own) |
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Medication (Please bring all medication you are taking. It will be handed in to the nursing staff. You may NOT keep medication on you) |
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ID Book or Drivers Licence |
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Medical Aid Card |
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Main Member ID Book |
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Toiletries (Please bring personal toiletries but take note that any sharp objects – e.g. nail clippers, razors, scissors, etc or electrical appliances – e.g. hairdryers or straighteners, will be locked away at the nurses’ station unless needed and must be returned immediately after use) |
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Towels (We do not supply towels – only linen) |
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Hangers (Plastic, not wire) |
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Cigarettes (In keeping with the new laws, we do not sell cigarettes on the premises so please bring your own) |
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Money (We advise that you bring about R350.00 to run a tab at the coffee shop should you wish to use this facility) |
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Phone cards (We have public phones upstairs – these are specifically for those on the DDU but they are open to anyone who wishes to make use of them) |
What NOT to bring
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Valuables (for security reasons, we advise that you do not bring anything of value – e.g. jewellery, electronic equipment, large sums of money, etc. Crescent Clinic cannot be held liable for items which have been mislaid or stolen) |
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No alcohol or illicit drugs (due to the nature of the facility and the programmes we run, please do not attempt to bring any of these items onto the property. Crescent Clinic reserves the right to discharge any patient under this policy) |
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Weapons (As per the firearms act, no firearms, ammunition and/or any other weapons, including, but not limited to teargas, pepper-spray, knives, etc will be allowed at any time. Please also note that we do not accept responsibility for such items – please hand firearms in at the closest police station) |
Costs that may be incurred during your stay
Crescent Clinic reserves the right to perform urine Multi Drug Screening (MDS) or breathalysers. However, these costs will be for your own account. Should you be on the Dual Diagnosis Unit, it is compulsory to provide us with a breathalyser and urine test on admission as well as possibly during your stay here – please be aware of these extra costs. We also provide this service to the general public – should you wish to bring someone for testing, please call the clinic before to make certain that there will be a member of nursing staff available to assist.
| Costings: |
MDS = R120
Breathalyser = R35 |
PLEASE NOTE:
We no longer have a laundry service at the Clinic. We advise you send your laundry home for washing. Should this not be possible, there is a Laundromat across the road from the clinic and you may make a personal arrangement with them.
For more information on admissions, please contact the Admin Department on (011) 792 9400 (ext 420 or ext 421)
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