Ambulatory Care Unit
How we can help you
For some treatments or procedures you do not need to stay in our Hospital. These can be done in our Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) during a day appointment and include:
Intravenous infusions
This is when particular medicines or fluids are injected directly into your veins. We usually use a machine to control how quickly they are administered. We provide the following infusions:
- Blood (also called a blood transfusion) or other blood products
- Antibiotics
- Fluid replacement
- Monoclonal antibodies
- Iron
- Immunoglobulin.
Diagnostic procedures
Doctors can book rooms in our ACU to perform these procedures:
- Lumbar puncture (taking a small amount of fluid from your lower back)
- Short Synacthen test (to check the amounts of the hormone cortisol in your body)
- Insulin tolerance test (to check if your body is making enough growth hormone and cortisone hormone)
- Changing your CVAD dressing or removing your CVAD (a Central Venous Access Device is a tube that is placed in a large vein and can deliver medicine straight into your blood)
- Pentamidine Infuser (used to treat a type of pneumonia)
- IV Antibiotics Infusers
- Red Cross Eye Serum Collection.
Other infusions and procedures can be performed in the ACU, please contact the Nurse Manager.
Our team includes our Nurse Manager, Clinical Nurse Educator, Medical Officers, Registered Nurses, Administration and Patient Service Assistant.
We work with medical specialists, your local doctor (GP), pharmacy, Red Cross and the National Blood Authority.
Arriving to ACU you will be greeted by administration staff who will check you into your appointment and ask for you to be seated. Nursing staff will greet you and direct you to a chair or bed.
ACU will provide coffee and tea during your treatment, however please bring your own lunch or other meals.
To make an appointment at our ACU, you will need a referral letter from your local general practitioner (GP) (valid for 12 months or indefinite referral) or medical specialist (valid for 3 months). Referrals are to be made to a Prince of Wales Hospital specialist who has admitting rights to Prince of Wales Hospital and should explain your medical history, list of any medicines you are taking and any relevant test results. Your Doctor can fax this referral letter to us and we will telephone you to make an appointment. Alternatively you can bring the referral letter to the ACU to make an appointment.
We will try and make your appointment at a time convenient to you, however we cannot always guarantee this.
To cancel or change your appointment, please telephone us on 02 9382 2314.
You may need to purchase your medicine before you come to your appointment. We will let you know when we confirm your appointment. Otherwise, please bring:
- Current Medicare card or Veteran Affairs card
- Any Health Care Card, Pensioner Concession Card or Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card.
- Insurer details (eg workers compensation, public liability or third party).
- Your Private Health Fund Membership card if you are currently insured with a private health fund.
- Recent pathology results, X-rays or medical images and their reports, if applicable.
- Activities to keep you entertained while waiting (for example, a book, music player with headphones, crosswords).
- If you have any particular medical needs we suggest you come prepared (for example, bring your medicines, if you are diabetic please bring food).
Services covered by Medicare require a valid referral. Non-Medicare and Medicare ineligible patients will be required to pay at Prince of Wales Hospital cashier prior to treatment.