A way of life

Life Claremont and Life Kingsbury Hospitals are members of Life Healthcare, one of the largest private hospital groups in South Africa, operating 63 acute care facilities across the country.

Life Healthcare is recognised throughout the health industry for its high calibre healthcare professionals and excellent facilities.

We believe delivery of world class healthcare is achieved through a combination of unparalleled quality and clinical excellence; along with a true focus on the personal needs of our patients and their families.

Every day we subscribe to the core values of the Life Healthcare group, while individually striving to continually improve facilities, standards and technology.

At Life Claremont and Life Kingsbury Hospitals our priority is to focus on the delivery of a special brand of health and care to patients. Within a world class hospital, this unique approach is what makes the difference and helps us to maintain our position as two of the top hospitals in the country.

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Our team

At Life Claremont and Life Kingsbury Hospitals we understand that we have a responsibility to meet the expectations of those who are entrusted to our care as well as the expectations of their loved ones.

This realisation enables us to ensure that we focus on an experience of care for everybody who visits or is admitted to one of our hospitals or healthcare facilities.

All Life Claremont and Life Kingsbury Hospitals’ staff participates in ongoing quality training ‘Q to the power of e’. Here we each come to appreciate the importance of quality in delivery of service and to embrace caring principles of empathy, ethics, excellence, energy and empowerment.

Results of ongoing patient satisfaction surveys tell us that a stay at Life Claremont and Life Kingsbury Hospitals reflects the high standards of health and care we set out to deliver. The care delivered at Life Claremont and Life Kingsbury Hospitals extends into the community.

Our employees at all levels actively participate in community initiatives to improve the quality of life in surrounding areas.

Our facilities

At Life Claremont Hospital:

• 100 beds and 4 theatres
• A 5 bed general intensive care unit, equipped with leading diagnostic and monitoring facilities
• An orthopaedic unit committed to joint replacement specialised surgery, including the treatment of hand, foot, knee, back and neck
• 24-Hour accident and emergency unit with doctor on duty 24/7, and back up specialists from both hospitals
• A radiology facility, with a comprehensive range of sophisticated diagnostic equipment including MRI and CT scanner

At Life Kingsburg Hospital:

• 134 beds and 7 theatres
• A 9 bed general intensive care unit, equipped with leading diagnostic and monitoring facilities
• A 5 bed high care unit
• A radiology facility, with a comprehensive range of sophisticated diagnostic equipment including CT scanner
• A state-of-the-art vascular theatre and support facilities including a 23 bed vascular/neuro ward
• A 25 bed maternity unit with well-appointed wards and video security facilities. This unit is ably supported by a mother and baby clinic which provides support to the mother after delivery
• Foetal assessment unit
• A 4 bed neonatal unit complete with state-of-the-art monitoring and life support equipment to cater for any neonatal emergency
• 4 delivery rooms including the natural birth room and spa bath which provides a homely environment with the security of advanced obstetric and neonatal care on demand
• An on-site breastfeeding consultant who does daily ward rounds
• A paediatric centre for asthma, allergies and diabetes
• A 4 bed paediatric intensive care unit
• A 21 bed gastrointestinal surgical ward
• An endoscopy suite

Medical and surgical disciplines

• Breast diseases
• Colorectal surgery
• Dentistry
• Dermatology
• ENT surgery
• Endocrinology
• Foetal assessment
• Gastroenterology
• General practice
• General surgery
• Gynaecology
• Hepatobiliary surgery
• Internal medicine
• Maxillo-Facial & Oral surgery
• Neurology
• Neurosurgery
• Nuclear medicine
• Obstetrics
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopaedic surgery
• Plastic and reconstructive surgery
• Thoracic surgery
• Urology
• Vascular surgery

Ancillary services shared at the Medical Village:

• Dietetics
• Pathology
• Physiotherapy
• Radiology

Specialist facilities

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Revolutionary New Procedure for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm a recent major upgrade of the vascular theatre at Life Kingsbury Hospital, together with a state-of-the-art screening table and radiological facilities, has now enabled a new procedure for abdominal aortic aneurysms to be performed.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a dilation of the largest artery in the body, situated in the abdominal cavity. This common condition is found in up to 5% of males over the age of 60 especially if they have high blood pressure or a family history of aneurysms. It is less common in females. When the aneurysm enlarges beyond 4-5cm in size there is a major risk of sudden rupture, an event that is usually immediately fatal. As they tend to cause no symptoms before rupture they usually require an ultrasound examination to pick them up, a vascular surgeon at the Life Kingsbury Hospital in Claremont recommends that all males over 60 have an ultrasound to detect this potentially life-threatening condition. Communities in which this service is routinely offered have experienced a great reduction in the number of deaths from ruptured aneurysms. Patients should ask their general practitioners to arrange this for them.

Until recently, repairing an abdominal aneurysm required a major operation under general anaesthesia in which the abdomen was opened and the aorta replaced with an artificial graft (a fabric tube). This usually required several days in intensive care, a week or more in hospital and as long as 3 months to full recovery. It is now possible to introduce the graft that is needed into the aorta through the groin arteries without opening the abdomen at all. A system of self-expanding metal stents holds everything in place in the aorta so that all the blood flows through the graft and none through the aneurysm. Most patients are discharged within 2 days with only two small wounds in the groin and a rapid return to work and full activity. More than 10 000 of these procedures have now been performed worldwide including a small number in South Africa. Approximately 50% of aneurysms are suitable for the new technique.

Particularly sophisticated X-ray facilities are required in the operating theatre to permit the safe and accurate introduction of stent grafts into the major arteries. Very few operating theatres in the world have such facilities. The upgrade of the vascular theatre at Life Kingsbury Hospital has now enabled these procedures to be performed safely. A team led by vascular surgeons, and assisted by radiologist Philip Harries-Jones have now successfully implanted many Aneurex stent grafts and have commenced an active programme to properly evaluate aneurysm patients and where possible, treat them with stent graft procedures.

Cardiac Rehabilitation
Life Claremont Hospital’s Cardiac unit is situated on the ground floor of its hospital and is run by the Cape Medical Rehabilitation centre.

This centre specialises in cardiac rehabilitation for the at-risk, hypertensive patient through to those who have undergone bypass surgery and even heart transplant surgery.

The patients do a six-month programme with us and the aim is then to integrate them into one of the commercial gyms or onto a Fit-for-Life programme.

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
The Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Unit in Cape Town was established to provide information and treatment options for conditions resulting from pelvic floor dysfunction, including incontinence, constipation and rectal prolapse. Pelvic floor diseases or disorders have a huge negative impact on patients - physically, psychologically and socially. It is important to know that there are millions of sufferers out there and there is no need to suffer the symptoms in silence. The Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Unit brings together health care professionals with years of experience in treating pelvic dysfunction; surgeons recognized for their experience and skill in this specialized surgery and the most technologically advanced medical and surgical equipment to advise and treat patients, and make their lives worth living again. The website provides advice, contacts and an opportunity to make an anonymous enquiry.

Click here for more information.

Our Management

• A nursing sister
• A team of five biokineticists
• A dietician
• Three health psychologists
• A specialist physician who both have an interest in cardiac disease and cardiac rehabilitation, oversee the total program.

Our aim is to bring the unfit and at risk patients back to peak fitness so as to minimize the likelihood of a cardiac incidence or relapse.

Click here for more information.

Obesity Surgery
Obesity is a serious condition associated with multiple problems like:

• Heart Attacks
• Strokes
• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Cancer
• Depression
• Arthritis
• Sleep Disorders

Life Kingsbury Hospital offers obesity surgery in the form of a multidisciplinary team – The Chrysalis Clinic.

The Chrysalis Clinic takes a holistic approach to obesity and weight loss. We look at the patient`s history and current health status. We combine the skills and professional inputs of a team of specialists, considering all the options, and the safest, most realistic way forward for the patient.

It`s important to understand that significant weight loss is a process. It involves long term commitment, patience, endurance and trust in the team. But the challenge is made a lot more manageable when the patients have the support of your own mentor and a whole team of professionals. Non – surgical options are considered first, involving a combination of dietetic treatment, exercise, pharmacological treatment and psychotherapy. You will be assessed by an endocrinologist/physician, a dietician, a surgeon, a biokineticist and a psychiatrist or psychologist from the Chrysalis Clinic team.

Click here for more information.

Supporting doctors

The doctors listed below are private practitioners. Please enquire about their rates directly with the practice.

Patient and visitor information

At Life Claremont and Life Kingsbury Hospitals, we take pride in providing you information that you need in order to make your stay with us a pleasant and hassle-free experience.

If there is any further information that you or your family require regarding our hospital and our services, please feel free to contact us.

Accommodation

Accommodation at our hospital is extensive and includes:

• Day beds
• Private wards
• General wards
• High care units
• Intensive care units

We also offer DSTV in all of our wards. If any patient requires earphones, these can be purchased at reception for a nominal fee.

Private wards are all en-suite, with telephones in each room. An a la carte menu is available.

Admission

Our admission process can be made much easier for you, if the following simple guidelines are followed.

• Medical aid patients should check with their medical aid / scheme prior to admission to obtain pre-authorisation, if deemed necessary by the medical aid / scheme.
• Patients have to present their medical aid card and identity document on admission. Persons under the age of 18 have to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
• To speed up admission, a pre-admission form is available from the resident doctor`s rooms and the hospital`s reception, and should be either handed through to the hospital`s reception or faxed through to us prior to hospitalisation. Please click here to find our contact details.
• Also refer to the “Tariffs” and “Discharge” sections below, for more information on prepayment and payment procedures.

Discharge

On leaving, do not forget to collect your medication and x-rays. You will be given a pink discharge card to hand in at the reception desk in the foyer as you leave. When you hand this in, your account will be finalised immediately.

Public Relations Officer (PRO)

Our public relations officer serves as a link between the hospital, patients, doctors and staff. Should you need any assistance please contact the officer at the reception desk of our hospital. If you are from out of town, the PRO and reception desk has a list of accommodation near the hospital for family members.

Service monitoring

In keeping with our goal to continue providing high quality care, we monitor our service to patients on an ongoing basis. Throughout their stay, patients are asked to complete questionnaires regarding their stay at the hospital. Participation is voluntary, but this will assist the hospital management to address any problems and improve our service to you.

We especially welcome any suggestions our patients may have. If you have any suggestions for us, please send us an e-mail at Fathima.Mahomed@lifehealthcare.co.za.

Tariffs

• Our hospital charges patients at medical aid / medical scheme rates.
• A prepayment is required on hospitalisation, from patients not covered by medical aid or a medical scheme.
• It is recommended that private patients contact the hospital`s accounts department prior to admission to establish the estimated hospital cost.
• Patients requesting accommodation in private wards will be requested to pay the private ward rate on admission.

Visitor Information

We welcome all of our patients` visitors, as we know what a difference the support of close family and friends can make.

In light of this, we also have to be aware of the rest that all of our patients require and we have thus provided for visitors to visit our hospitals only at certain designated times and these are:

• 11:00 - 12:00 (designated wards only)
• 15:00 - 16:00
• 19:00 - 20:00

Further to this, other rules apply with respect to visitors and these are:

• Visitors are restricted to three per patient at a time. Children are welcome but they must have an adult supervising them.
• In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), we only allow two family members per patient.
• In the High Care wards, two visitors per patient are allowed.