Useful information A–Z

• General Terms and Conditions (Allgemeine Vertragsbedingungen, AVB)

By S-Bahn (suburban train)
Take the S-Bahn Freiburg–Breisach. Get off at the Freiburg-West Landwasser stop and walk from there along the footpath (1 min.) to Wirthstraße. Turn left here and follow Wirthstraße for approx. 300 m towards Freiburg. The Diakoniekrankenhaus is now ahead of you on the left.

By tram
Take tram line 1 towards Landwasser. Get off at the Diakoniekrankenhaus stop and from there cross Elsässer Straße at the pedestrian lights into Wirthstraße. Follow Wirthstraße for approx. 200 m. The Diakoniekrankenhaus is now on your right.

By car
Coming from the A5, take the Freiburg-Mitte motorway exit onto the B31a towards Freiburg. Leave the B31a at the Industriegebiet Nord exit onto Mooswaldallee. Follow Mooswaldallee for approx. 1.5 km to the exit Diakoniekrankenhaus, Landwasser, Tierhygienisches Institut. At the traffic lights turn left into Elsässer Straße and follow the road for approx. 100 m. Here turn right into Wirthstraße and follow the road for approx. 200 m. The Diakoniekrankenhaus is now on your right. Ample parking is available directly at the hospital.

During your inpatient stay, you will be looked after directly by your ward doctor, who works closely with the Senior Physicians and the Chief Physician. All treatment decisions are therefore made for you in close consultation within the team.
Ward rounds are carried out daily by the ward doctor, twice a week together with the ward's Senior Physician and once a week together with the Chief Physician. Outside the ward rounds, in the surgical specialties, the responsible surgeons as well as the ward doctors will look after you.
Please do not hesitate to ask the doctors caring for you any questions. They are of course also available – by appointment if necessary – for discussions with relatives.

On discharge, you will receive a provisional discharge report from your ward doctor. Please present it to your general practitioner without delay for your further care. We recommend that you write down any tips and advice from our therapists, nursing staff and ward doctors.

A detailed report will then be sent to your general practitioner by post. If you continue to receive nursing care after your discharge (e.g. in a nursing home or from a community nursing service), you will also receive a nursing report.

For later stays, including in other hospitals, please always mention your stay with us.

Patient co-payment

For an inpatient hospital stay, you are obliged under § 39 (4) SGB V (German Social Code, Book V) to make a co-payment of 10 € for each day or part thereof, limited to 28 days per calendar year. Hospitals are required by law to collect this co-payment on behalf of your health insurer.

For this reason, you will receive an invoice for this co-payment after your discharge. Please note that if payment is not made on time, a dunning procedure will be initiated and you must expect an enforcement order to be issued.

The co-payment does not apply in the following cases:

You are under 18 years of age
The 28-day limit has been exceeded
You are exempt from co-payments
The stay is for an inpatient delivery

For admission to our hospital, please first report to the information desk. There you will be shown the way to our admissions office. We will need your personal details, the red hospital referral form (Einweisungsschein) and your health insurance card. The information you provide for hospital admission is, of course, subject to the applicable data protection regulations, which we observe carefully. Afterwards, a number of examinations and conversations with the doctors and nursing staff will be necessary during the course of the day.

The first days after a birth are something very special. For this reason, the Evangelisches Diakoniekrankenhaus cooperates with a baby photographer who, on request, captures these first moments of your baby in beautiful pictures.

If you missed the photographer, you are welcome to come to us for a separate photo session by appointment.

Mobile: 0157 - 34 94 00 28

As a rule, in justified cases it is possible for accompanying persons to be admitted as well. This is an additional service subject to a charge, but it may be covered by the health insurance fund if there is a medical indication. Please contact our patient administration staff about this.

You can find the current visiting regulations here: Visiting regulations

Our well-stocked lending library on the ground floor is available to all patients free of charge. Here you can choose from novels, crime fiction, illustrated books and non-fiction (also in large print), as well as music CDs and audiobooks.

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 08:30 – 12:00

Patients who are unable to come to the library themselves can order books by telephone (internal extension: 188).

Smoking and open flames are not permitted in patient rooms! Please observe this rule for your own protection and that of your fellow patients.

Café carpe diak is the meeting place in Freiburg-Landwasser to linger and enjoy. Everyone is very welcome: whether patients, visitors, neighbours or simply people who fancy a good coffee.

In the immediate vicinity of the Evang. Diakoniekrankenhaus, the café offers speciality coffees and snacks through to small dishes, ice cream and cake, with a focus on organic quality and regional produce.

Further information can be found at Café carpe diak.

Our kitchen employs specially trained dietitians and is therefore able to offer a variety of diets. If you require a particular diet, it will be prescribed by your doctor. If, independently of this, you already follow a particular diet, please let us know as early as possible so that we can ensure the best possible care.

Giving parents security and a sense of safety around the birth – that is the aim of our cooperation with the Techniker Krankenkasse Baden-Württemberg. It deliberately chose the Evangelisches Diakoniekrankenhaus as a contractual partner after above-average scores were achieved in the 2008 patient survey and our hospital was awarded a quality seal. In addition to high-quality medical care from experienced obstetric teams, insured persons receive a number of extra services on site: for example, it is possible to have a test for gestational diabetes and to make use of extended measures to prevent premature birth. In addition, the partner can attend antenatal classes free of charge. The programme also includes an additional course on “Giving Birth Safely” (“Sicher Gebären”).

Following detailed information, your discharge or transfer usually takes place by eleven o'clock in the morning. Thanks to our close cooperation with general practitioners and specialists, specialised practices, community nursing services, affiliated departments and hospitals, we ensure that all important information is exchanged and that the transition to outpatient care or further measures runs seamlessly.

A special, highly trained nutritional counselling team is available to you at our hospital.
If you have questions about dietary adjustments or suitable diets, our staff (a DGE nutrition counsellor/DDG diabetes counsellor and three dietitians) will be happy to advise you. If needed, please do not hesitate to ask your doctors or your nursing team to arrange nutritional counselling.

All information about our kitchen can be found under Food & dining.

Especially in the case of serious illnesses, situations repeatedly arise in which it is not easy to decide on the next steps. In such a situation, we do not want to leave you alone. You or your relatives can therefore contact our ethics consultation service when facing difficult ethical decisions. Your ward will be glad to help you with this.

Lost property is collected centrally at the hospital information desk and kept for 6 months.
If you have left behind or lost items or valuables in the hospital, please contact the information desk directly.

• Phone: +49761130101">0761 1301-01
• E-mail: pforte@diak-fr.de

Our newly renovated chapel is located on the ground floor of our hospital.
The following services/devotions take place there every week:

Sunday, 11 am: “Tag 1” (Day 1) – our Sunday morning service
Thursday, 6 pm: “Atem holen” (Catching your breath) – our regular service
Monday to Friday, 12 noon: “Zeit für die Seele” (Time for the soul) – our midday reflection for every day of the week

Our chapel is open to you day and night as a place of silence, contemplation and reflection.

Our Green Ladies and Gentlemen (Grüne Damen und Herren) volunteer to look after those who need companionship and other help. We are very pleased to be able to offer this special support at our hospital and greatly value the work of the volunteers of the Ecumenical Hospital Aid (Ökumenische Krankenhaushilfe).
Please do not hesitate to speak to your nursing team if you would like this support.

Further information can be found under Green Ladies and Gentlemen.

The use of mobile phones is permitted in most areas of our hospital. For safety reasons, however, a minimum distance from medical equipment must be maintained, and their use is therefore prohibited in the intensive care unit, the delivery suite and the entire operating theatre area.

The fundamental idea of hospice work is to accompany the seriously ill and the dying. We work closely with the Freiburg hospice group (Hospizgruppe Freiburg). Detailed information and the contact address of the Hospizgruppe Freiburg are available from the nurses on your ward.

Our staff at the information desk in the entrance area are happy to be there for you around the clock as your central point of contact. You can reach them by telephone at any time on internal extension 91.

Internet: Our hospital is equipped with a Wi-Fi system that you can log into free of charge with your laptop, tablet or smartphone. SSID: DIAK-FREE

Telephone: Every bed in the patient rooms has its own telephone, on which you can be called directly from outside. To use the telephone you need a chip card, which you can obtain at the information desk or at patient admissions in the entrance hall in exchange for a deposit of 20 €. We charge a daily flat rate of 2,50 €. At the end of your stay, please return the card to the information desk. The deposit you paid will then be offset against the charges.

TV: Most patient rooms have a television with a choice of 40 channels. We ask for your understanding that some of our televisions have no loudspeaker and sound can only be received via headphones. Headphones are available free of charge from patient administration or on the wards.

Radio: Five or ten radio stations are available to you, which you can also listen to via headphones.

The cashier's office is located in the administration area at Admissions 3. There you can pay the statutory co-payment for your hospital stay, change money and have registry office notifications (standesamtliche Meldungen) processed.

As a patient, you usually have little to do with the financial handling of your hospital stay. If you are a member of a statutory health insurance fund, the costs incurred for your stay are billed directly to your health insurance fund. However, even for full inpatient treatment you will be charged a personal contribution, which we pass on to your health insurance fund. Please pay the personal contribution on the day of discharge at our cash desk in cash or by card, or complete a direct debit mandate so that the amount can be debited from your account.
As a self-payer, you must pay your user charges yourself. If, as a self-payer, you hold a Clinic-Card from a private health insurer, we can waive the advance payment that would otherwise be required.

In addition to multi-bed rooms, two-bed rooms are available on all wards. There is also a limited number of single rooms on various wards, some with a shower. All rooms are equipped with a washbasin and toilet and also have a telephone – the single rooms and many two-bed rooms also have a television.

We keep you informed about our regular art exhibitions and events in the series "Kunst & Kultur im Krankenhaus" (Art & Culture in Hospital) through current brochures and the information boards on the wards.

To help you feel well cared for during your stay, we offer our mobile foot care service on request. If you have any questions about making an appointment or how it works, the nursing staff on your ward and our staff at reception will be happy to help.

In addition to optimal medical treatment, personal care is also very close to our hearts. In the exceptional situation surrounding your hospital stay, it is important to us that you feel secure, well looked after, respected and understood.
Given the organisational requirements of a hospital, it is unfortunately not always possible to fulfil every individual wish. Above all, it is you who can point out possible improvements to us. We are therefore just as grateful for praise as for constructive criticism.

You are welcome to use our feedback forms for this purpose. These are analysed very carefully and – wherever possible – acted upon.

You can also send your positive or negative suggestions to the quality management team by e-mail at qm@diak-fr.de. The website www.klinikbewertungen.de also offers the opportunity to describe your impressions for others.

Information about our: patient advocate.

You are about to have an inpatient stay at our hospital. The following list is intended to help you pack your suitcase for your stay with us:
Checklist for your inpatient hospital stay

For your stay to give birth, we have drawn up a separate list:
Checklist for your hospital stay to give birth

“It is not about adding more days to life,
but about adding more life to the days”

Cicely Saunders, founder of the hospice movement

Based on the Christian conviction that human life is infinitely precious and valuable, we are deeply committed to respecting the dignity of every patient and the limits of nature.

Advance directive (Patientenverfügung)
In case you should no longer be able to make decisions yourself, an advance directive allows you to set out in advance your wishes and limits regarding future medical treatment.
You can rely on us to respect your decision. As an advance directive is legally binding, legal experts recommend that it should always be combined with a lasting power of attorney.

Lasting power of attorney for health and residence matters (Vorsorgevollmacht)
Under current law, your closest relatives do not automatically have the right to make decisions on your behalf in health matters and related residence and financial matters. To avoid lengthy clarification processes, it is therefore advisable to name one or more persons in a lasting power of attorney whom you trust to decide in accordance with your wishes. This power of attorney naturally applies only when you are unable to make decisions yourself.

If no such power of attorney exists, the guardianship court (Betreuungsgericht) must appoint a legal guardian at our request. Preference is given to a suitable person from your immediate circle. If no one is available, a professional guardian is appointed.

Guardianship authorisation (Betreuungsvollmacht)
Should you ever find yourself unable to express your wishes due to a serious illness, a guardianship authorisation will help. In it you can propose a person you trust as your guardian and specify whether you wish to be cared for at home or in a particular nursing home.
In an emergency, however, a guardianship directive does not give a third party immediate legally binding decision-making authority. This can only be granted by a lasting power of attorney. In many cases it is therefore advisable to combine a guardianship directive with a lasting power of attorney.

Here you will find further information and forms on this topic:

www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/patientenverfuegung.html

www.ekd.de/Christliche-Patientenvorsorge-15454.htm

Our hospital has its own excellent physiotherapy department at your disposal. This department has a total of seven staff members who work in close consultation with the treating doctors. Thanks to their additional qualifications in respiratory therapy, manual lymphatic drainage and manual therapy, they can design an individual treatment tailored to you that prepares you to return to your normal everyday life as quickly as possible after an operation or acute illness.

If you are expecting post, please ask for the ward to be included in addition to the hospital address. Incoming post will be handed to you by the nursing staff. Please use the following address for your letters:

Evang. Diakoniekrankenhaus
z. Hd. (your name)
Station ……
Wirthstr. 11
79110 Freiburg

Please put outgoing post in the letterbox in front of the main entrance, or ask the nursing staff or one of the Green Ladies (Grüne Damen, hospital volunteers) to post it for you.

Alongside optimal medical therapy, it is particularly important to us not to leave cancer patients alone with the fears and hardships surrounding such an illness. For this purpose, we have specially trained psycho-oncologists at our department, Ms Dorothee Meyer-Mybes and Sabine Verborg (Breast Centre).

In principle, we offer psycho-oncological support to all affected patients. Using a questionnaire, we try to find out in advance how urgently you would like such counselling and care. Of course, we will not impose ourselves on you – but we are always happy to help with advice and practical support in your exceptional situation.

Cleanliness and hygiene are a very high priority at our hospital! For this reason, it has always been important to us not to outsource cleaning, and thus to retain a degree of control over this important area. All members of the cleaning service are employees of our hospital who fully identify with our mission statement and give the highest priority to cleanliness and hygiene.

As part of the holistic treatment of body, soul and spirit, pastoral care is a particular focus of our hospital. True to the Christian promise: “When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me” (Psalm 138:3), our full-time chaplaincy team would like to search together with you for sources of hope.

We are here for you through:

• visits to you in your room
• confidential one-to-one conversations in a protected setting
• arranging Catholic pastoral care here in the hospital
• counselling sessions – also with your relatives
• Holy Communion for the sick and blessing of the sick
• collaboration in the palliative care service
• cooperation with the hospital’s social services and discharge management
• regular devotions and church services
• putting you in touch with the hospice group
• cooperation with parishes and church congregations

You can find the contact persons for pastoral care here.

There are situations that bring about significant changes for the rest of your life. Our social services team will be happy to advise you on the consequences in terms of employment law and tax. It also organises follow-up rehabilitation (Anschlussheilbehandlung, AHB), to which you are entitled for certain illnesses. As a rule, we will approach you about this option ourselves. However, please do not hesitate to contact our social services team to arrange a consultation.

Please register your newborn with our hospital administration so that the legally required birth notification can be submitted to the registry office (Standesamt).

The Evangelisches Diakoniekrankenhaus Freiburg is approved for all health insurance funds. On request, our patient administration staff or nursing staff can provide you with explanations and information sheets on the billing of your inpatient stay.

Optional services are services that you can choose to receive separately for an additional charge. If you have supplementary or private health insurance, these costs are usually covered by your insurer. Of course, you can make use of all additional services at any time. If you do not have the appropriate insurance, we must agree the use of these services with you in writing and invoice them separately. For your own protection, please therefore check in advance the extent of your cover and whether your health insurance fund covers the relevant additional options.

Our optional services:

Treatment by the Chief Physician
The optional service “Treatment by the Chief Physician” is a separately chargeable optional service and means that you will be operated on and treated personally by the Chief Physician or, if he is unavailable, by his deputies. It also applies to all Chief Physicians of our hospital involved in your treatment, as well as to all medical services commissioned by these physicians and to physician-led facilities outside the hospital.
Services provided are invoiced in accordance with the official German scale of medical fees (GOÄ) in the version currently in force.
The optional service “Treatment by the Chief Physician” is agreed with you in writing before it is provided.

Accommodation
You can choose between a single or a double room, provided occupancy on the ward allows.
Single rooms are divided into premium and standard rooms. If you would like a single room, we will make every effort to provide one. However, please understand that a hospital cannot be planned 100 % like a hotel and, unfortunately, when beds are scarce we cannot always meet every request immediately.

Accompanying person
If bed occupancy allows, an accompanying person may stay overnight in the patient's room. We must invoice the costs of accommodation and meals separately.

Additional day after outpatient procedures
For some operations and procedures, the health insurance funds require us to carry them out on an outpatient basis. However, if after the procedure you would like to be monitored and cared for by us for one or two treatment days at your own expense, this is of course possible. We must invoice the costs for this period separately.

There is space in your hospital room for your most important personal belongings. Unfortunately, we cannot accept liability for money, jewellery or other valuables. If you cannot give these to your relatives to take home, small safes are available free of charge (location: at patient admissions on the ground floor and on every ward). If necessary, valuables can also be deposited at the cashier's office in exchange for a receipt.