Grey's Hospital - A Tertiary Health Care Institution

Grey’s Hospital is a referral/tertiary hospital providing 100% tertiary services to patients and is located in Pietermaritzburg which falls in the Umgungundlovu Health District. Tertiary services are offered to the Western half of Kwazulu-Natal – this includes 5 health districts with a total population of 3.5 million. The hospital has 530 commissioned beds and is presently utilizing 507. Grey’s Hospital also provides 24hr emergency services. Please also note that in terms of these new designations, our hospital only accepts patients who have been referred and accepted by a doctor or have a referral letter from regional or district hospitals, e.g. Edendale; Northdale, Montobello, Appelsbosch, etc.

What does tertiary mean? It means that Grey’s Hospital provides highly specialized health care, with extensive medical investigations, which is otherwise not available at a district hospital. Non-emergency Self referrals or walk in patients are advised not to visit Grey’s Hospital directly but should start by going to their nearest Primary Health Clinics.

It also means that patients who have not been referred to us by other hospitals are not only discouraged from coming directly to Grey’s Hospital, but such patients who continue to present as non-emergency cases will now be triaged and sent back to their respective hospitals for care, i.e. district hospitals nearest to them.

In terms of a new referral system, patients must first see a health care worker at a primary health clinic or at a district hospital; they will in turn refer the patient to the next higher level of care, i.e. regional hospital, as and when necessary. In order to save time and to avoid delays in accessing health care, please ensure that you have a letter from your doctor, referring you to Grey’s Hospital only once your case has been discussed and accepted by a doctor at Grey’s Hospital (doctor to doctor consultation)

What does it mean when improper referrals end up at Grey’s Hospital?

1. Patients who have serious conditions suffer and have to wait longer periods, because doctors have to attend to less urgent “district- level” patients.
2. Time, effort and limited resources are spent on cases that should be handled by health care providers at a lower level in the referral chain, e.g. district hospital

Please note that Grey’s Hospital provides tertiary service not only to the Pietermaritzburg district, but also has an added workload from the Midlands, Ladysmith, Newcastle and Northern Zululand. We therefore need your support and understanding by adhering to set referral procedures.

What are the benefits of adhering to the referral procedures?

Smooth flow of patients, faster service and less heavy burden to the system
No delays in getting medical attention at the correct level of care
Our resources will not be depleted and will be channeled to help patients who need higher level tertiary services
We therefore trust that all patients, family members and members of the public, will follow the appropriate referral patterns and not come directly to Grey’s Hospital without firstly visiting their Primary Health clinics or district hospitals.

Contact: Office of the Public Relations
Telephone : 033 897 3684
Fax : 033 342 2324
E-mail : zamo.mntungwa@kznhealth.gov.za
Address : P/Bag X 9001
Pietermaritzburg
3200

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