Health Care - More Details

HEALTH CARE POLICY

The Village is designed for “independent living”, where residents are expected to care for themselves. However, accidents can happen to even the most active, and as the years go by age-related health issues become more likely.

The availability of medical care is thus an important consideration. Here in Douglasdale we pride ourselves that our care service is at least on par, if not superior, to that found in other villages.

Three levels of medical care are available:

Day-to-day health care
Extended or permanent care
Medical emergencies

Day-to-Day Care (Medical specialists)

A doctor is in attendance on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for residents only. Consultations by appointment. The consulting room is in the Mid Care building and bookings are made via the Mid Care desk. House calls are possible for difficult situations. A Travelling Dentist is on call to treat residents at home. Physiotherapy is also provided in-home. An audiologist attends regularly to conduct hearing tests and arrange hearing aid prescriptions and maintenance.

These health specialist services are for residents’ own accounts.

There are also many doctors, dentists, opticians, and other medical service providers in the Village’s immediate vicinity.

Day-to-day nurse services

A full range of trained and qualified nursing care are provided in the Village by La Vie Care, ranging from a matron and duty sisters through to nurses, aides and carers. The day sister is available for emergency and scheduled home visits to carry out medication management. She also runs a weekday clinic in the Midcare building (mornings 8 to 10 am; afternoons 1 to 2 pm) where routine procedures such as injections, blood pressure tests, blood taking for pathology purposes, wound treatment etc. can be dealt with.

Note that La Vie Care staff are not licensed to prescribe or to supply prescription medicines. However, they will assist in the ordering and delivery of prescription medication, where necessary.

Short-term, Extended or Permanent Care

Care services are provided by a contracted company: La Vie Care Nursing Services.

They offer:
- A nursing service for minor procedures
- In-home care for long or short-term care
- Mid-care accommodation
- Frail care accommodation

Nurse aide services

All residents, including those in Frail and Midcare, can call on the services of nurse aides for company, help in taking exercise, assistance in day-to-day tasks that are proving difficult to manage, or for help in taking walks in the grounds (including pushing wheelchairs).

Frail Care accommodation

La Vie Care operates a 12-bed unit for those needing the maximum level of care and supervision. If no bed is available, La Vie Care will arrange to provide the equivalent level of care in the patient’s home, until such time as a bed becomes available. This charge for this care will be at the standard Frail Care rate.

Mid Care accommodation

La Vie Care operates a 12-bed unit, each with bathroom en suite, for those not able to cope fully on their own, and for whom in-home care is not feasible. Full nursing services are provided, together with all meals and other living requirements.

In-home Care services

La Vie Care offers a fully trained care-giver service to residents in their own homes.

The service can be booked for as little as one hour, or on an extended 24-hour basis. All the carers are directly supervised by La Vie Care and when necessary can call on immediate support from the qualified nursing staff on duty 24/7. While this facility removes the stress of having to locate an external provider (perhaps at short notice), residents are, of course, still free to appoint their own carers. Such carers need to be approved by the Village Matron.

Power Outages

Residents who depend on electricity to power life sustaining equipment, such as oxygen machines, may come to the Mid Care building during power outages where emergency power is available.

Medical Data Sheet
A vital precaution!

Residents are required to fill in a medical data sheet that lists:

- The medications they are taking;
- Their medical conditions and allergies (if any);
- Their doctor and other medical specialists they consult for various issues;
- Their medical aid details;
- Their preferred hospital for emergencies;
- and to place it behind their bedroom door, AND to keep it up to date! This is of paramount importance – particularly for those living on their own – for in the event of a medical emergency it will provide essential data to first responders if you are not able to communicate the details yourself.

Emergencies

The first level of response is the duty nurse and/or Sister, plus trained Security staff, who respond day or night to a signal from your emergency button (provided in each household).

If they are unable to deal fully with the emergency, a paramedic team is summoned. The Village has a contract with a private paramedic group, whose response time is rapid, and whose paramedics are very well trained.

Finally, if the emergency requires more than just on-site treatment the paramedics’ ambulance transfers you to a hospital. (This will be to your hospital of choice if you have previously registered your preference, otherwise you will be taken to an approved nearby hospital.)

The emergency services of a Village nurse or sister are free; paramedic services are for the resident’s personal account.

Panic alarm system

A portable pendant alarm is provided in each unit. Pressing the alarm’s GREEN button displays the resident’s unit number at both the Galloway guardhouse and the nurses’ station. During office hours it also alerts Reception and the Matron. The procedures described under “Health Care Emergencies” will then come into play.

Similar panic buttons are also installed in the lifts serving the three apartment buildings.

In-home Security

Smoke detection
Every unit is fitted with a battery-powered automatic smoke detector. The batteries are renewed annually by maintenance for a small cost. The replacement is obligatory.

Fire blankets
Each unit also has a fire blanket for smothering small fires.

Contact Details

    • General Enquiries, Quotes, and Accounts

For inquiries, please email dalemed@laviecare.co.za or call 010 593 3347. If you’re calling from outside the village, use 010 593 3338 during office hours.

    • Nursing Assistance (All Hours)

For immediate assistance, call 3342 to reach the nurses’ station. If nurses are unavailable, call 3348 for 24/7 security assistance.

    • Emergencies

Emergency care is made urgently available when you Press your panic button.