Your Stay

Admission

Your Consultant will arrange your admission when required.  Please note that your bed is not confirmed until you receive a telephone call from the Bed Manager or the Admissions Office.

If you are scheduled for admission to a Ward or to the Lodge facility, you will be contacted by phone the day before your admission date.

Discharge Planning

Your discharge planning commences on the day of the your admission with an anticipated date of discharge. Confirmed date of discharge occurs when you have been clinically discharged by your consultant and team and your discharge summary is complete.  Discharge time is 11am.

Referral is made to the multidisciplinary team as appropriate to assist with discharge planning. The nursing and medical team liaise closely with the patient and their family on an ongoing basis in planning a patients discharge.

What to bring to the Ward and Oakland Lodge

If you are being treated as an inpatient, you should bring your personal toiletries, shaving kit or electric razor, night clothes, dressing gown and well-fitting, enclosed slippers – all in a small bag.

We encourage patients to change out of their nightclothes whenever possible, so you might also like to bring something light and loose fitting.

You should also bring your current list of medications.

 

Money and Valuables

Please do not bring very expensive personal items or large amounts of money with you when coming to the hospital.  You may need just some money for sweets, etc from our Cafe.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to personal property of any kind, including money and laptop computers, regardless of how the loss or damage may occur.

Oakland Lodge is a home from home for our patients who need to be accommodated because of geographical reasons for example distance from the service. The Lodge is situated on the grounds of St Luke’s Hospital, Rathgar. There are strict criteria in place for patients who are eligible to stay in the Lodge. Unfortunately, there is limited accommodation available in the Lodge and we may not be able to offer you this facility.

Who can stay in the Lodge?

Your consultant may offer that you stay in the Lodge.  However, you will need to be assessed on the day of your CT Scan by the Nurses at the Nurses station.  They will go through a list of questions to make sure you are safe to walk over and back from the Lodge to the Main Hospital.  If you stay in the Lodge you must be able to manage your own personal care, medications and mobilise independently, unless you have a carer staying.

A request for a carer or a family member to stay with a patient must be assessed by nursing and a Lodge Exemption Form completed. Children under 16 are not permitted to stay overnight in the Lodge but may visit during the day.  Patients requiring radiotherapy to their brain must be accompanied while staying in the Lodge at all times.

You can stay in the lodge if you are having treatment in our Beaumont or St James’s Centres as transport is available to take you to and from our centres daily.

Your Stay

The Lodge is a 5 day unit. It is open Monday to Friday, closing on a Friday at 1pm. There is no nursing service in the lodge. Patients are reviewed weekly by their medical team.

Lodge Facilities

Each bedroom has a telephone, fridge, kettle, television, safe and an en-suite shower room. All meals are provided. Parking is available on the grounds of the hospital. Bed linen / towels are provided.

What to bring with you

Travelling light is advised as the Lodge is only open Monday to Friday and therefore you will be going home at the weekend.  Please try to keep all your belongings to a small 10kg bag as sometimes you man need to be transferred to a Ward in the main hospital and space can be an issue.  You will need comfortable loose fitting clothes, shoes with good grip, especially in Winter and your own toiletries.  You are advised not to bring any valuables.

Patient Medication

It is important to bring any medication with you for the duration of your stay.  Should you require a prescription refilled or a new prescription filled, the HCA’s or Lodge Supervisor will email this to Rathgar pharmacy who will deliver it in the evening  Payments can be organised directly by phone with Rathgar pharmacy.  Rathgar Pharmacy 01 497 0046.  Staff in the Lodge cannot accept cash payments.

Cleaning and Laundry

Patients and visitors are kindly asked to make their own beds. Linen is changed weekly every Monday. Rooms will be dusted and cleaned on a daily basis by the cleaning services.

Weekend Leave Transport

Weekend transport is available for going home on Friday’s and returning on Monday’s to Wexford, Letterkenny, Louth, Sligo, Meath, Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Mullingar, Tullamore and Portlaoise.  On arrival to the hospital please contact the Lodge Supervisor or Health Care Assistant regarding your transport booking.

A number of procedures can be carried out as a day-case. You will be given an appointment for when you need to attend the day ward with any instructions.

Procedures carried out on the Day ward are:

• Chemotherapy administration
• Blood Transfusions
• PICC line insertions
• Symptom Control Management including Pain Management
• Care of patients undergoing Minor theatre procedures i.e Colonoscopys and Bracytherapy- HDR Prostate Seeding and Steriostatic

Out- Patients

You may need to be followed up after your treatment in one of the centres. Again a letter will be sent to you outlining when and where your appointment is.

When you arrive, please report to the outpatient reception desk, and then you can take a seat in the waiting area. Before you see the doctor, you might need to have blood tests or X-rays. If so, we will let you know where to go. Your visit to the clinic is a good time to discuss things with your doctor. It can be hard to remember all the questions you want to ask and all the information the doctor gives you, but there are some things you can do to make it easier for yourself.

Useful Tips:

• Write down and prioritise the questions you want to ask and make a note of the answers.
• Consider bringing a relative or friend to help you remember the conversation later.
• Request written information where it is available and repeat back what you think you’ve heard to check that the information is correct.
• If you haven’t understood what has been said, please don’t hesitate to ask your doctor or clinic nurse again.

Nutrition Matters

You need to eat and drink as much as you can to help your recovery. Food gives your body energy, protein, vitamins and minerals and when you are ill you may need more of these to help you recover.

Nutrition Screening

Nutrition screening is where a nurse or other member of staff checks your weight and asks about any recent changes in your weight and appetite.  This will tell us if you are getting enough nutrition to meet your needs.  Screening is done when you are admitted and then your weight will be checked once a week.  if you are not meeting your nutritional needs, we will start you on a plan to improve this.  A dietitian may assess and advise you.  You may also be automatically referred to a dietitian on admission, depending on your diagnosis e.g., head and neck cancer.

Meal Times

Breakfast          8.00am                   Mid-day Meal  12.15pm                 Evening Meal    5.00pm

There is a different menu each week for 3 weeks and then it goes back to the original menu.

To order your meals, catering staff will come to your bedside and give you a menu of the food choices available each day. This information will be written down by the catering staff and sent to the kitchen where your food will be prepared. If there is nothing you like, we wil try our best to suit your food preferences.

Our food is cooked fresh daily and is put on plates in our kitchen. It is served from a trolley on the ward.  During meal times, we want you eat and drink as much as you can. We try to reduce interruptions while you are eating, for example, relatives visiting or us calling you out for tests.  We only allow visitors to stay with you if they are helping you to eat or drink.   If you miss a meal, catering staff will provide you with a replacement meal.

Special Dietary Needs

If you need a special diet, for example, gluten-free or renal diet, or if you have a known food allergy, please tell one of the nurses when you are admitted. Our menu shows the allergens in each food to help you make safe choices. We can provide meals if you have a cultural, ethnic or religious dietary requirement.

If you find it hard to swallow, or if you notice coughing or choking when you eat or drink, a speech and language therapist may assess you. They may prescribe changes to the texture of food you eat.

Texture modified diets you can get in hospital.

• Soft and bite-sized
• Minced and moist
• Pureed
• Liquidised

If you are on a texture-modified diet or thickened drinks at home, please tell the nursing staff when you are admitted.

If you need help to eat and drink, nursing and health care staff will help you. We may give you a coloured tray to show you need help.

St. Luke’s Hospital is committed to providing a safe, healthy, clean environment and continually strives to improve the quality of our hygiene services.

As part of our commitment to maintaining cleanliness in the hospital, we welcome your views. If there is anything you are unhappy about or would like to bring to our attention concerning these premises, or indeed any aspect of our hygiene services, please feel free to speak to any member of staff.

Hygiene services covers a wide range of areas and activities. These activities are designed to keep our patients and staff safe and protected from the risk of infection. These services include the following areas:

• Good hand hygiene practice plays an important role in infection control, as it is an effective means of preventing the spread of infection. Compulsory hand hygiene training is delivered to all staff by the Hospital’s Infection Control Team.
• Healthcare staff know they should clean their hands before and after touching patients. We have signs posted throughout the hospital to remind staff. We urge our patients to ask staff if they have cleaned their hands, and to remind staff if they forget.
• We encourage all patients and visitors to wash their hands when they enter of leave a ward or patient area.
• Hand hygiene facilities i.e. sinks and hand foam dispensers are located throughout the Hosptial for staff, patients and visitors to use.
• Weekly audits and inspections to check the general cleanliness of the Hospital are carried out in all departments. These ensure that the highest possible standard of hygiene is achieved and maintained.
• Strict controls are in place in regard to the Hospital’s laundry services. This process is checked and continuously monitored.
• The storage, cooking and preparation of food served in the hospital is carried out in line with HACCP requirements. This means that St. Luke’s Hospital controls the safety of ingredients and supplies entering the Hospital and adheres to good hygiene practice whenever food is involved.
• The management of waste is strictly controlled. Waste is separated into clearly labelled risk and non-risk bins and sent for suitable disposal using an approved contractor. Waste is recycled wherever possible.

At St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network (SLRON), we understand the challenges that patients and their families face when it comes to arranging transportation for treatment. We are committed to supporting you during this time, even as we work within limited financial resources. To help ease the logistical and financial challenges you may be facing, we have several transport options available, that you may qualify for:

SLRON Patient Transport Service

For patients undergoing radiotherapy and residing in Dublin, we offer a limited transport service that operates under specific eligibility criteria. If you’re interested in this service, please discuss it with your medical or nursing team during your initial consultation. Our SLRON minibuses can help transport patients to and from our three treatment sites.

Weekend Leave Transport

If you are planning to take a weekend leave, we have minibus transport options available for certain regions. These minibuses will pick you up from St. Luke’s Hospital, Rathgar on Friday morning and drop you off at various points for the weekend. You can then be collected from these locations on Monday morning to return to St. Luke’s.

Weekend drop-off points include:

• Letterkenny, Sligo, Roscommon, Portlaoise, Tullamore, Mullingar, Longford
• Cavan and Monaghan This route also stops at Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. Please note you must be a medical card holder to avail of this service.
• Wexford, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, and South Tipperary: To request transport, an application must be submitted to Patient Transport, Wexford. This application needs to be completed by the patient and a medical professional. Please be aware that you also need to be a medical card holder. The processing of this application may take up to 7 days, and forms can be obtained from HSE South East or St. Luke’s Hospital.

Local Cancer Support Group

Your local cancer support group might have a volunteer driver scheme to assist with transportation to and from the hospital/unit. For information about available support in your area, you can contact the Irish Cancer Society at (01) 2310500 or visit their website at https://www.cancer.ie/cancer-information-and-support/cancer-support/find-support/local-cancer-support-centres

Travel2Care Scheme

If you live 50 kilometres or more from the hospital or treatment facility and are experiencing genuine financial hardship due to your cancer diagnosis, you may qualify for the Travel2Care Scheme. For more information or to make an application, please contact the Social Work Department within the hospital/treatment unit.

The HSE provides information to help you to find out about your rights, how to access personal information, and how to make a comment or complaint about services you have used.

https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/yourhealthservice/