Information for Patients
General Information
We have moved to mixed billing, please call us or refer to our fees page for further information.
Appointments
Consultations are by appointment however emergencies will be seen or directed to the appropriate facility and other urgent cases will be accommodated wherever possible. Please advise the staff if your case requires urgent attention.
We do not provide routine walk in services.
Routine Telehealth consultations are not preferred by our clinic but is available at the discretion of the medical practitioners for patients with infectious conditions or other conditions that the medical team considers appropriate.
Please notify the Practice Staff if you are not able to keep the appointment. This is important so we can accommodate other patients who want to see the doctors.
Efforts will be made to accommodate patients arriving without appointments but lengthy wait may be encountered. In addition if there are other family members who need a consult, please make separate appointment for them rather than including them as an add on to an appointment. This will help with out patient flow and avoid long waits for other patients.
The Practice is not offering appointments via SMS, online or by email. Please ring the surgery for appointments or queries.
Please note email communication is very limited and is utilized for clinical communication only. Please ensure you update your email if you have any changes to your email accounts and let our staff know if you want to opt out of email communications. This is to manage privacy and breaches of information.
Longer consultations
Please let the receptionist know if you would like to book a long appointment.
If you have complex issues or have several things you want to discuss please request a long appointment. This allows for a better work flow and unnecessary waiting for other patients.
Home and nursing home visits
Limited house calls by prior arrangement is available for regular patients who have physical disability. Home visits are not be bulk billed and may incur the Australian Medical Association fee depending on the clinical state and time taken. You will be advised of any cost at the time of making the appointment. The Practice utilises a deputising service(Sydney Medical Services) for after hours home visits.(87246300)
Pathology
Pathology collection service is provided by Douglas Hanly Moir on site.
They are available from 08:30 am to 11:30 am on Wednesdays.
Covid testing is not performed at our Practice.
Results
In line with other health care institutions, the Practice has a policy of not giving out pathology results over the phone.
This is to ensure your privacy and confidentiality and also reduce any anxiety and distress that abnormal results may cause without the opportunity to provide face to face support and counselling.
Parking
Some on site parking is available at the rear of the building. Street parking is also available in front of the Practice.
Disabled Access and Services
The Practice has easy wheelchair access through the front of the premises. Disabled toilet is available at the surgery.
The Practice is equipped with an examination bed which can be lowered to allow patients with disability to be transferred for examination.
After hours service
After hours medical services can be obtained through an accredited deputizing provider. Sydney Medical Services is run by doctors for doctors and they notify us if any of our patients are seen by their doctors to ensure continuity of care. Please call 87246300 to book a home visit after hours. After hours care is also available through Canterbury Hospital GP clinic and also Balmain Hospital Urgent Care Centre. All major Public Hospitals have a 24 hour Emergency Departments.
Communication and Telephone calls
Doctors in this practice may be contacted by phone during normal surgery hours for urgent matters. For non-urgent matters a message will be taken and your call returned as soon as practical. Unless it is important, it is advisable to make an appointment as calls can disrupt the consults and also can be limited in what the doctor is able to advise without breaching your confidentiality.
The Practice is not offering online appointments or SMS or email communications. Please ring the surgery for appointments or queries.
Emergencies
In the event of any Emergency please call 000 or 112 from mobiles.
The Practice does not have a defibrillator at present but has basic resuscitation equipment for basic life support and limited advanced life support for unexpected emergencies.
Reminder system
Our practice is committed to preventive care. We also participate in the State/territory reminder system. If you do not wish to participate in our reminder system please notify our staff and opt-out. Please ensure that you have provided us consent for digital reminders and recalls. This can be done at reception through our clinical software program.
Feedback
We always welcome comments regarding the care you receive at this practice. Please feel free to talk to the doctor or the practice receptionist .You may prefer to write to us.
Your rights
If you have a problem we would like to hear about it. Please feel free to talk to any of our staff, or you may prefer to write to us. We take your concerns, suggestions and complaints seriously. However, if you wish to take the matter further and feel that you need to discuss the matter outside of the surgery you could contact the Health Care Complaints Commission at:
Locked Bag 18
Strawberry Hills. 2012 NSW
Phone: 1800 077 308 (NSW Toll free) or (02) 9219 7444
email: hccc@hccc.nsw.gov.au
Website: www.hccc.nsw..gov.au