FAQ

Please feel free to contact our rooms prior to your appointment for confirmation of the costs that will be payable on the day of your consultation.

At the time of booking your surgery, Dr Crowley’s staff will provide you with a quotation, which specifies fees payable for his services and an estimate of the fees payable to the anaesthetist. You are asked to confirm exact fees payable to the anaesthetist by ringing their rooms, and details will be provided to you at the time of making your booking. We will also provide you with information to enable you to check with your health fund whether you will be fully covered for the hospital costs.  

We understand it can be difficult to access specialist surgical care if you are based in a country or regional area. We have cared for many country patients over the years who have travelled to Adelaide for surgery. We appreciate that it can be a stressful time for patients and their family and our staff endeavour to make the whole process as easy as we can for them. 

• Many issues we need to discuss with you can be dealt with over the phone, including completing the admission forms for surgery. We encourage you to call us as often as you need to.
• Tests and imaging can often be done by a facility in your local area and results sent to us. We can often access test results and x-ray images online (depending on the facility you use) meaning it may not be necessary to send hard copy x-rays to us.
• If you require relatively uncomplicated surgery (e.g. arthroscopic surgery) and are in reasonably good health, we may be able to see you for your first consultation one day and admit you for surgery the following day.
• If your surgery and health issues are more complex, we work with you to make arrangements which suit you best. In this case, much of the necessary paperwork, consent forms etc. can be done in advance of your arrival by email/mail – or on the day before your surgery.
• In some cases patients will require review by an anaesthetist before surgery – our staff will provide details for you and can help to coordinate your appointments so that the whole process is as easy as possible.
• There are several accommodation options available around each hospital where Dr Crowley operates which may be suitable for family members who want to be with you. Our staff will be happy to provide recommendations.
• The length of time a patient spends in hospital after an operation will obviously depend on the nature of the surgery and the patient’s post-operative assessment by hospital staff. Please speak to Dr Crowley at the time of your appointment and he will give you an estimate of the amount of time you are likely to need to remain in hospital, so that you can plan ahead as much as possible.

For patients in a lot of pain, we can usually find you an early surgery date which means you don’t have to wait for too long. Many patients will need to make arrangements with family or arrange time off work and our staff can help you find a date that is most convenient for you. 

If you are having surgery at The Memorial Hospital, our staff will contact you after 4pm the day prior to your surgery to confirm admission and fasting times – i.e. the time you need to arrive at the hospital, and instructions on when to begin fasting (nil by mouth).

The length of time you need to stay in hospital following a procedure will depend very much on the nature of the procedure, your general health, your home environment and care arrangements and your post-surgical assessment by the hospital’s nursing and physiotherapy staff. Dr Crowley will advise you on the likely length of stay, but this may be affected by factors which are out of his control.

Some private patients at The Memorial Hospital may be referred for in-patient rehabilitation. The availability of this service will depend on the hospital’s nursing and physiotherapy staff’s assessment of a patient’s progress, and is not determined by Dr Crowley and his staff.

At The Memorial Hospital, rooms are allocated by the hospital’s staff. While you can express a preference for a single room at the time of booking your surgery, it may not always be possible to guarantee a single room as availability will depend on the number of patients in the hospital at any given time.

Dr Crowley likes to see patients at regular (but increasing) intervals following surgery. Generally, your first post-operative appointment will be between 2 and 4 weeks after surgery. This appointment will be made at the time of booking your surgery. At this first post-operative appointment, Dr Crowley will advise you of any additional review appointments you may require. Frequency of review will depend on your post-operative progress, and obviously if you have any issues in the post-operative period further appointments can be made if necessary.

For patients who have had surgery at Lyell McEwin Hospital or Modbury Hospital, please contact the respective Hospital Outpatient Department to discuss your post-operative appointment arrangements. Lyell McEwin Hospital Outpatient Clinic can be contacted on (08) 8182 9000 or Modbury Hospital Outpatient Clinic on (08) 8161 2262.

Dr Crowley will advise you at the time of booking your surgery of the key risks involved in proceeding with the proposed surgery. Please feel free to ask as many questions as you like at this stage, as it is important that you are fully informed about the possible consequences of your operation. 

If you are having joint replacement surgery you will need to have an ECG and blood tests done prior to surgery. These are usually done 1-2 weeks before the scheduled date for your procedure.

If you are assessed as a high risk patient, there may be other pre-admission tests that you will have to undergo. Dr Crowley will discuss the requirements with you at the time of booking your surgery.

Also, some patients with complex medical conditions will need appointments with other medical specialists to ensure that it is safe to proceed with surgery. We will let you know if this is something you need to do.

Some hospitals also require patients to attend a Pre-Admission Clinic – you will be advised by the relevant hospital if this is required.

If you are having surgery at The Memorial Hospital, a pre-admission nurse from the hospital will contact you by phone 1 – 2 days prior to your admission to discuss you admission, ensure you know where to present and what to bring on the day of your surgery, and to answer any questions you may have. Please ensure that the contact details you give in your eAdmission or hard copy admission form are accurate so that the nursing staff can easily make contact with you.

Prior to your surgery we will discuss your medications with you. You will be given important instructions about what you should and should not take prior to surgery. Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you are unsure about these instructions.

The Memorial Hospital offers a regular monthly information session on knee and hip replacement surgery. These sessions are suitable for you and a family member to attend. They are run by a Registered Nurse or Physiotherapist from the orthopaedic ward of the hospital. The sessions cover many commonly asked questions and can help you to feel prepared for your surgery. Please contact our rooms if you are interested in attending one of these sessions and we can provide details of the dates on which they are available.