Patient Communication Protocol
Effective and punctual communication is essential to patient-doctor relationship, trust, patient management and best outcome. Our practice has various responsibilities which include high priority work in the intensive care unit and emergency department. Apart from that, we are regularly engaged in outpatient consultations that cannot be interrupted by anything other than a medical emergencies in the ICU, hospital, or emergency department. Since this practice only has one medical practitioner, communication needs to be protocol based to achieve punctuality and efficiency.
We therefore adhere to the following strict communication protocol:
Medical emergencies:
All medical emergencies are managed via the emergency department, without exception. Please contact them directly in the case of a medical emergency. Alternatively, when appropriate, you can contact the ambulance services for immediate medical care.
Mediclinic Hermanus Emergency department: Tel: 028 313 0168
Ambulance services: 10177 (Central ambulance services) Applicable to whole South Africa
066 222 7219 ( CMC ) Local and Overberg service provider
076 585 0899 ( EMR ) Local and Overberg service provider
Urgent communication:
All urgent communication will be received by the practice nurse. This communication, when applicable, will be scheduled in the next available timeslot. Medical consultations are subject to billing. Scheduled communication usually has a delay of approximately 6 to 72 hours. If you feel that such delays will negatively impact your physical health, we suggest that you contact your general practitioner who will consult you and assist you as needed. When indicated, they will communicate with us the urgency of the matter. If you believe you have a medical emergency, please follow the protocol above.
Non-urgent communication:
We ask that all non-urgent communication make use of our email services. The following emails are available:
admin@drwernervonzeuner.com This email is available to all patients and will be used for administrative purposes.
dr.wernervonzeuner@gmail.com This email is available to all healthcare providers.
Alternatively, you can contact us on our landline: Tel: 028 312 1198
Cellular phone:
This practice also uses a cell phone for communication. It is predominately to give feedback to families related to patients currently treated as inpatients at Mediclinic Hermanus. The service is not always available and does not cater for medical consultations or any emergencies.