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Appointments
Consultation is by appointment. You can make an appointment online via the home page of this website, directly via Hot Doc or by calling reception on 9421 4888. If we are fully booked online please phone the practice and your request will be triaged by our nurse or reception team. A standard appointment is 15 minutes. If you need a longer appointment (for example, if you have several issues you would like to discuss) please book appropriately or let the staff member know at the time of booking. If you need to cancel or are running late, please let us know. Cancellation fees may apply if you fail to do so and do not attend. In an emergency, we will assist in assessing the most appropriate course of action.
Results & Recalls
All results are reviewed by the doctors. We will only contact you if your doctor needs to see you or discuss your results further, a sms will be sent notifying you of ‘normal’ results. A computerised reminder system is available and used for follow-up of many medical conditions. You may receive reminders for things like follow up blood tests, vaccinations, or other preventative health checks via text message. If you do not wish to be automatically placed in our recall and reminder system, please let us know. The practice participates in both state and national preventative health registers, you may opt out of this at anytime.
Fee Schedule and Payment
We are a private billing practice. This allows us to maintain our high standard of care. A standard consult is $100 (with the medicare rebate this is $54.95 out of pocket). More detailed information about our fees and services is available at reception. Payment in full is expected at the completion of your appointment. We can process your Medicare rebate online ensuring you a prompt return directly into your nominated bank account. Payment can be made by cash, eftpos or credit card, surcharges will apply for card payments.
When booking a telehealth appointment our system requires you to enter your card details for payment, failure to do so will result in your appointment automatically being cancelled. Payment is not taken until the completion of your appointment. It is the doctor who determines the billing, meaning you may still be bulk billed if you have an existing arrangement. If you do not wish to add your card details, please phone the practice to book your appointment.
Can I get a repeat prescription without an appointment?
Continuity of care which is seeing your regular doctor for all your medical needs has been proven to improve patient outcomes and is strongly encouraged. This is why it is usually best to make an appointment to see your GP even for a repeat script; but for some ongoing stable conditions it may be medically appropriate and more convenient for you to request a script without an appointment.
You can do this in one of two ways, either via our ‘rapid access clinic’ which consists of a short, usually telehealth consult with your GP billed at a reduced rate, or you can use our repeat prescription / repeat referral request option online via HotDocs. Your request will be assessed by your doctor and a decision made in line with your best medical care, meaning an appointment may still be required. The online request may take several business days to be processed so if the request is urgent an appointment may be quicker.
Please note certain medications such as drugs of addiction, antibiotics, ADHD medication and weight loss drugs can only be prescribed with an appointment.
Just like repeat script requests continuity of care is encouraged therefore it is preferrable to make an appointment to discuss your referral. A new referral will always need an appointment, your GP will assess your symptoms to decide the best course of action, which may include referral to a specialist. For repeat referrals for ongoing conditions, it may be suitable to request this via our online repeat referral service or via our rapid access clinic. Online requests can take several days to process, so an urgent request might be better suited to an appointment
It is an offence to back date a referral so you will need to arrange one before your specialist visit.
Can I get a referral without an appointment?
In most cases no. The GP needs to assess your symptoms to decide the best course of action, which may include referral to a specialist or for ongoing referrals whether you still need to see a specialist. You do not require a referral to see a specialist but having one makes the consult claimable, at least in part, through Medicare thus reducing your costs. It is an offence to back date a referral so you will need to arrange one before your specialist visit. You may be able to request a referral over the phone if you are an existing patient, have been seen recently and have discussed your concerns / symptoms for which you require the referral, with your GP. Requests may take up to three business days to process so an urgent request may be better suited to an appointment.
Why do doctors run late? It is so frustrating
Our wait times are on average under 10 minutes, but unfortunately doctors do sometimes run late. We make every effort to run to time but a patient’s health concerns can be unpredictable. Some of the reasons doctors run late include: medical emergencies, complex medical needs booked in standard appointments not allowing enough time, previous patient(s) arrived late for their appointment, interruptions via phone calls, pandemics or simply previous patients needed a little extra care and attention. Many of these things we cannot control, our doctors endeavour to give all our patients the time and attention they require.
Can I speak to my doctor?
Most issues are best dealt with in a consultation rather than over the phone but sometimes you may have follow up questions or concerns. These questions can sometimes be answered by our Practice Nurse or a message can be left for your doctor. We are a busy practice and the GPs are often fully booked meaning they may not get to your message until the end of their session. Alternatively you can email the practice and this will be passed on to your GP. If your concern is urgent you will be triaged by our Practice Nurse.
Privacy
We respect your privacy and are committed to keeping your personal health information secure and confidential, in line with the Privacy Act 1988 and Health Records Act 2001.
You may Download a copy of our Privacy and Health Information Policy for full details.
Feedback
We are committed to improving all aspects of patient care. Feedback provides a valuable tool to improve systems and processes and therefore we value patient opinion and comment on all aspects of the practice. We welcome any suggestions that you feel will improve our service. Please contact our Practice Manager or speak to your doctor if you have any concerns or complaints. If you would like to take a complaint further please contact the Health Services Commissioner on 8601 5222 or 1800 136 066