38 secrets hospitals won’t tell you

Bring a clear, printed list of exactly what medications you take at home and when you take them. Don’t just say ‘daily’. We need to know if you take them at night with dinner or when you wake up.
Kevin B. Jones, surgeon, author of What Doctors Cannot Tell You
Is your medication doing you more harm than good? Find out if you’re being over-prescribed.

Nurses sometimes need reminders, so never be afraid to ask for something more than once. We can be juggling so much … we haven’t intentionally forgotten your request.
Regional hospital nurse

Hospitals can be very noisy at night so bring ear plugs. There is no such thing as a dressing gown and slippers in hospital, so bring your own.
Kate Ryder

On weekends and holidays, hospitals typically have lighter staffing and less experienced doctors and nurses. Some lab tests and other services may be unavailable. If you’re having a major elective surgery, try to schedule it for early in the week so you won’t be in the hospital over the weekend.
Dr Roy Benaroch

Many hospitals say no drinking or eating after midnight the day before your surgery because it’s more convenient for them. But that means patients may show up uncomfortable, dehydrated and starving, especially for afternoon surgery. The latest recommendations from the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists say that for healthy adults having an elective procedure, limited solid food may be taken up to six hours prior to anaesthesia and clear fluids totalling not more than 200 millilitres per hour may be taken up to two hours prior to anaesthesia.
Dr Cynthia Wong, anaesthesiologist
Find out the health ‘myths’ that turned out to be true.

Get up and move. Walk the halls, walk to the café, go outside. It will help you avoid blood clots, and patients see psychological benefits. One study found that older patients who get out of bed and walk around reduce their stay by an average of 40 hours.
Dr Roy Benaroch
Here are 15 health myths that make doctors cringe.

Every day that I am at work patients are cared for, lives saved and lives lost. What is a constant in the hospital is the people that are employed. Always caring, always willing to go the extra mile to make someone comfortable.
Regional hospital nurse
Read about the medical miracles that stunned doctors.

A generation ago, when I started in medicine, there was so much that was untreatable. Just the other day I saw a patient who used to be a severe diabetic with end stage renal failure. When I was at medical school he would have died, no doubt. Now he’s been able to have a kidney and pancreas transplant and I was taken aback when he said he used to be a diabetic and on insulin but he’s not any more.
Dr Stephen Parnis
Here are some of the biggest medical breakthroughs of recent years.

Sixty per cent of the patient feedback we get to our site is positive. We hear of hospitals who are willing to make changes based on what their patients want. We’ve had cases of a CEO putting up temporary signage himself, and another hospital creating a garden in their mental health area, all based on patient feedback.
Associate Professor Michael Greco

The sooner you can get out of hospital, the better. There are superbugs, it’s unfamiliar and you are more likely to fall in hospital. You’re less mobile and more likely to be in bed and so you are at higher risk of things like infection and blood clots. You’re more likely to recover more quickly in your own home – but we will not discharge you until we think it’s safe.
Dr Stephen Parnis