Guide for Gastro Procedure

We at Herzliya Medical Center make every effort to provide you with a secure feeling and peace of mind before, during and after the gastro-enterological procedure, and to help you to fully return to your daily routine as soon as possible.

This guide provides you with the information you need in order to be prepared for the examination in the hospital you are about to undergo, and to know in advance what to expect at each stage of the process.

We, the staff of the Medical Center, are personally committed to your health, and are working together to help, assist, support and provide the highest standard of medicine along with personal, dedicated and professional nursing care.

We wish you lots of success and good health.

Accompanied

You can come with only one escort

All hospital visitors are asked to wear a mask during their stay at the hospital, as well as strict hand hygiene.

If while you are at the hospital, accompanying a patient, and you do not feel well, the hospital staff must be updated immediately and you must abide by instructions.

Preparation for the examination

Before presenting for the examination, you received from the doctor a compilation of instructions for necessary preparations for the examination.

It is important to perform all these preparations exactly as instructed, so the doctor can accomplish the examination.

Non performance of the required preparatory procedures can lead to a situation, in which an additional examination would be required because of difficulties in establishing the diagnosis.

In the event of any question or problem, you can contact your attending physician or the Institute staff, who will be happy to provide explanations or instructions.

Before the arrival to the hospital

An identifying document is mandatory for the verification of data and without it the examination will not be performed.
It is important to bring with you to the hospital one of the following identifying documents:

• Identity card
• Passport
• Driving license – for an adult person above 18 years of age

In the course of the examination, the doctor will use sedation to enable you swift and relatively easy recovery.
According to the instructions, it is forbidden to drive a vehicle for 12 hours after an examination under sedation, and therefore you must present for the examination accompanied by somebody, who will bring you back home.

Registration and Admission

Upon arriving to the hospital, please refer to the Insitute of Gastro-Enterology in building B.

The admission process includes the primary identification of the personal details, opening of a medical record and assembling the documents you have brought with you, as well as the payment deposit for the self contribution, as the case may be.

If you wish, you may leave the cellular phone number of a family member or an accompanying person, to whom SMS can be sent with updates regarding the progress of the admission, operation, recovery and hospitalization stages.

The examination itself will be performed by your attending physician. You will be under sedation, aimed at unburdening for you the course of the intervention as far as possible, and the doctor will use the most advanced technology currently available in the field.

The duration of the examination can vary between patients and it depends on several factors, such as the kind of the procedure, its course, if biopsies are taken etc.

The staff in the Institute of Gastro-Enterology, including your attending physician and the nursing staff, will take care of all your needs during the examination and thereafter.

After the examination

At the end of the examination, the staff will transfer you to the recovery room, where you will rest under observation until the effect of the sedation that you received prior to the examination, subsides.

The stay in the recovery room will last about one hour, during which you will receive a light meal and clear fluids after fasting.

After you have recovered, the attending physician will discuss with you the course of the procedure and his initial diagnosis.

If biopsies were taken for histology, your doctor will inform you about the results as soon as these are available.

Being discharged home

The Institute’s staff will take care to discharge you home after about one hour.

Because sedation was used during the examination, driving is absolutely prohibited for 12 hours.

Many patients experience increased alertness after the examination and may erroneously believe that their functional state returned to normal, which is however not the case.

The sedation drug continues to work and may substantially slow down the reactions of the body, the judgement and decision taking capabilities, so it is recommended to have a rest for 24 hours after the examination and to avoid drinking alcohol.

Since the hospital environment is unfamiliar to you, this in combination with the medical condition necessitating your operation could increase the risk of falling.

Please read this guide carefully, and make sure to let the medical staff know of any past falling incidents.

Mobility:

• Before you get out of bed independently after surgery, find out from the nurse whether there are any special instructions.
• It is important to avail yourself of assistance from the clinical staff when transitioning from the bed to the armchair, when washing and/or in any instance in which you feel weak or unconfident.
• If you are connected to any tubing following the operation, request the assistance of a staff member when getting out of bed and for tasks that you need to carry out.
• Formal guidance about conducing yourself with infusion tubes will take place in the Department.
• We recommend reducing fluid intake after 18.00, and emptying the bladder before going to sleep.
• Wear steady (flat heeled) closed-back shoes.
• If you walk unsteadily, use a rail, walker or cane.

Maintaining a Safe Environment

• The bell for calling a nurse is within reach.
• It is important to make sure that the area near the bed is in an orderly state, and that the closet is within arm’s reach.
• The bed rails are raised as necessary, for your safety.
• Make sure to walk in dry areas to prevent slipping.
• Avoid walking while the floor is being cleaned.

We are here for you and to help you.

Infection in hospital is a critical issue that can harm patient health.
The hospital staff invest great effort in preventing hospital infections, punctiliously following the strict guidelines of the Ministry of Health and world health organizations.
For this purpose, we have set up a special team that carries out inspections, staff and patient training, in additional to many additional actions taken to care for your health.
In order to reduce the risk of infection we ask you to act in accordance with any guidelines you were given at the pre-operative clinic and during your hospitalization.

Hand Hygiene

One of the important procedures in preventing infection is washing hands before and after contact with the patient and with his surroundings.
Hand washing that prevents infection is hand washing with soap and water or disinfection of the hands with an alcohol-based product located throughout the hospital, in every department and next to every bed and sink.

Your help is essential – your health is in your hands

We would like you to participate in our efforts to reduce infections, and to be careful with your hand hygiene during your treatment at the hospital, as well as that of your family members and visitors.
It is your right to ask the physician and staff members to wash their hands before all contact with you or with your surroundings.
We would be happy to receive feedback from you and to take note of situations in which the staff is not careful with hand hygiene, so that we can make improvements and improve.

The right to receive proper medical treatment:

• Every patient has the right to receive professional, quality medical treatment and to be treated in a humane manner without any discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender, nationality, country of origin, sexual orientation, etc.
• If a patient presents to a Department of Emergency Medicine, it is his right to be examined by a physician.

Identity of the Clinician:

• The clinician must wear a clear identification badge and identify himself to the patient and his family.

Providing Consent for Medical Treatment:

• The provision of medical treatment is contingent on the provision of the consent of the patient or his legal representative (guardian/holder of a power-of-attorney).
• It is the patient’s right to receive an understandable explanation of his medical condition, his treatment options and their alternatives, risks, benefits and possible side effects.
• The explanation of the treatment shall be given, so far as is possible, in the patient’s language, in accordance with his ability to understand.
• The patient must provide the clinical staff with information about his medical history, so that the diagnosis and treatment offered will be the most appropriate and the best.
• The patient has a right to refuse to receive medical treatment (with the exception of exceptional cases set down in the law).
• The patient has the right to give a power-of-attorney to a person who will be authorized to consent to medical treatment on the patient’s behalf in the event that the patient will be unable to make the decision.

Maintaining Dignity and Privacy:

• Employees of the medical center are obliged to maintain the patient’s privacy and dignity.
• The patient has the right to request the presence of an additional person in the treatment room.

Maintaining Medical Confidentiality:

• Employees of the medical center are obliged to maintain the confidentiality of information that they are exposed to during their work and due to their position.

Conveying Medical Information to Others:

• It is the patient’s right that medical information about him be conveyed only after the patient consents or if under the provisions of the law this is permitted or is obligatory.

Additional Opinion:

• It is the patient’s right to take the initiative for an additional medical opinion within or outside of the medical institution.
• It is the obligation of the medical staff to assist the patient with this.

Continuity of Treatment:

• When switching between clinicians or between various medical institutions, the patient has the right to request that the clinicians work in cooperation in order to ensure proper continuity of treatment.

Receiving Visitors:

• The patient is entitled to receive visitors during the hours intended for this in accordance with the medical center’s administration’s procedures.

Receiving Medical Information:

• The patient has the right to receive all information in his medical file from the medical center.
• Upon his discharge, the patient will receive a summary of the course of his hospitalization in writing.
• Receiving an additional copy of the medical record will incur a fee.

Public Inquiries:

• It is the right of patients, of their families and/or of any other person to contact the Public Enquiries Officer or the Patient Rights Officer with any comment, complaint, query or suggestion.

Ethics Committee:

• In the Medical Center, there is an Ethics Committee, which is careful to assist in making decisions in complex cases.
• It is the right of the patient, his family members and relevant parties to request that the Ethics Committee convene.
• Additional information is available on the Medical Center’s website.

Base on the “Patient Rights Act 5756-1996”