Hello Tukiman
Welcome to beyondblue. You have a lot of questions and I will answer as much as I can. May I ask why you want to go to hospital. Has your psychiatrist suggested you go to hospital? I can tell you about my stay in a private hospital although it was 16 years ago.
You can only be admitted by a psychiatrist. If your psych has admission rights to a private hospital then he/she can send you there, presuming there is a vacant bed. You can in theory go to any private hospital but you need a psychiatrist to admit you. This means your psychiatrist would need to ask a psychiatrist who uses that hospital to admit you and look after you while you were there.
Being admitted to hospital is usually in an emergency or to take part in an activity run by the hospital. For example a friend of mine went into hospital for three weeks to take part in a course run by the hospital and was recommended by her psych. It's not the same as taking yourself to a public hospital where your admission is based on your presenting symptoms and again the availability of beds. You need to be very unwell to be admitted to a public hospital is my understanding. An admission to a private hospital may be to keep you safe or to allow you to learn about your illness and take part in a planned treatment.
If your treating psych wants you to go to hospital and has admission rights he/she will organise it. There is generally no emergency treatment as in public hospital, although your psychiatrist may want you to go to hospital because you are unsafe.
I understand there can be waiting lists for a private hospital. I do not know how long you would need to wait. If you have private insurance which includes hospital cover, a stay in hospital may be totally covered. It depends on the hospital and doctor. If the doctor is prepared to accept the amount the fund pays then you will have no out of pocket expenses for the hospital. Similarly your doctor will make a charge every time he/sh goes to see you, which is usually daily. They may bulk bill you through Medicare for these consultations.
My suggestion is that you talk about this with your treating psychiatrist who will have all of this information, and will be able to arrange admission if they consider it is what you need. Public hospitals will not accept you solely because your doctor wants you to go and to stay there for a week or whatever.
Will you continue to post in here. Perhaps we can help some more.
Mary
