Best Healthcare Experience

Five-star treatment

Private hospitals are transforming traditional stays with finer touches such as personalised service and classy furnishings

Besides delivering world-class medical care, hospitals are going one step further to turn the traditional hospital stay into a boutique experience.

For the patients who come from all over the region for treatment, this means recuperating in an environment that is more hotel- than hospital-like.

Instead of a clinical environment, patients are ensconced in a cosy setting while they heal from surgical procedures. Making it easy Mount Elizabeth Hospitals is the epitome of five-star treatment. Patients can schedule almost any medical appointment within 24 hours, via their patients assistant centre hotline or website.

At its two hospitals, international patients can avail of dedicated medical evacuation, repatriation and concierge services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Translators are provided for its international patients, along with a 39-page pictorial guide to ease communication between its nurses and foreign patients.

To personalise patient care, patients who are scheduled for stays of three nights and longer receive visits from a nurse manager or senior nurse in charge. The hospital staff will garner feedback from the patients about their experience, checking that the patient has everything he or she needs.

Feel at home At Fortis Surgical Hospital for instance, patients are made to feel as comfortable as being at home. During their stay, patients get to lounge in home clothes. Their medical suites are equipped with an in-room entertainment system allowing them access to a maximum of 48 movies-on-demand, free-toair channels and YouTube.

If that's not enough, there are always games they can play on the iPad that's loaned to them during their stay. Décor wise, the suites are designed with warm wood furnishings, and medical equipment is hidden from sight.

The walls are painted with pleasant pastel tones, with the interior bathed with natural lighting for a light, airy feel. Gleneagles Touch At Gleneagles Hospital, the hospital stay is given the "Gleneagles Touch".

For patients booked into the VIP suites, this means a meet-and-greet at the airport and butler service throughout their stay.

Customer service staff drop in regularly on the international patients to handle requests from meal preferences to visa extensions. The detailed attention to each international patient includes a visit on the first stay day by an International Liaison Officer, who notes the needs of the patient and communicates them to the different department heads such as nursing and food and beverage.

To accommodate its patients from Indonesia, the hospital has a Patient Translation Guide to enhance communication between patient and nurse.

The maternity care service extends to maternity lodgers who are provided full-service meals while they await the baby's delivery. At the ParentCraft centre, forums cover useful childbirth education topics where patients can glean tips on breastfeeding, antenatal nourishment and infant hygiene, among other topics.

The hospital's executive chef also conducts regular live cooking showcase, sharing with the new mothers cooking tips for confinement menus.

Mount Elizabeth Hospitals is the recipient of this year's Singapore Experience Awards - Best Healthcare Experience while Fortis Surgical Hospital and Gleneagles Hospital are finalists.

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