Your General Practitioner (GP) will refer you to one of our clinics if they are concerned about your bones or joints and want a specialist opinion.
If you have an urgent problem requiring immediate orthopaedic assessment, you will be referred to the Te Whatu Ora, Taranaki Emergency Department where you will initially be seen by the registrar (trainee specialist). Investigations will be performed as required, and the more senior members of the team will be involved where necessary.
If the problem is non-urgent, the GP will refer you to the Orthopaedic Department, Te Whatu Ora, Taranaki requesting an appointment in the orthopaedic outpatient clinic. Each month the department receives more referrals than can be seen in clinic. One of the orthopaedic consultants working in the department reviews these referrals to determine who should be seen first and is based on the information provided by the GP. Urgent cases are usually seen within four weeks, but other cases may have to wait longer.
The First Specialist Appointment
After you have been to your GP and they have referred you to see a specialist for your treatment and you have been accepted into the service you will have to come for what is called a ‘First Specialist Appointment’ (FSA).
At the clinic appointment, you will meet a surgeon and he/she will consider your condition, how it impacts your life and your health status at the time to decide whether an operation will help you, and its urgency. In some instances, straight before you leave, you may also see a nurse, who will give you some information about your impending operation and a number of informative brochures that we ask you to read through thoroughly.
After you have seen the specialist and if you have been accepted for surgery, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire form about your current health status, which will be used to determine if you are well enough to have a general anaesthetic, if required.
In some circumstances, you may be asked to come back for an appointment for a pre-surgical assessment (undertaken by a nurse) and to meet your anaesthetist (doctor who puts you to sleep). You will receive a subsequent appointment by mail from our team if this is required.
If you are asked to attend a first specialist assessment, pre-surgical assessment or an anaesthetic appointment you will need to bring:
- All medicines you are taking including herbal and natural remedies.
- Your pharmaceutical entitlement card.
- Your ACC number, if you have one.
- Any clinical information that you already have that may be helpful for the specialist.
Someone to speak to
It can be quite a stressful time preparing for an operation in hospital, so we have a small team of nurses called Pre-Admission Nurses who oversee your journey from when you are confirmed as requiring surgery, until your surgery date. They are responsible for following up on results and managing referrals to other services for you, within the Te Whatu Ora, Taranaki Hospital if required.
The Pre-Admission Nurses work Monday to Friday between 08.00am and 4.30pm and they can be contacted on the following number: 06 7536139 extensions 8286 or 7176.
One of our Pre-Admission Nurses will make contact if you have any blood or urine results that need to be followed up prior to your surgery.
What happens on the day of surgery?
On the day of surgery, we ask that you follow these simple five steps to ensure everything goes smoothly on the day:
- Follow the instructions given to you regarding eating and drinking times and your medication rules. If in doubt, please give us a call - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.
- Cutting or grazing your skin on or near your surgery site may lead to your surgery being cancelled on the day, so please don't shave the area near to your surgery site, if applicable.
- Please have a shower and wash your hair, prior to coming into hospital. Do not wear talcum powder, perfume, aftershave, creams/moisturisers, makeup or nail varnish and do not wear any jewellery, other than a simple wedding band if necessary.
- Please try to wear warm and comfy clothes when you travel to the hospital, so you are as warm as possible right up to your operation time.
- Please allow plenty of time for travelling into hospital. It’s better to arrive earlier, rather than later.
