Services
Services
AFTER HOURS ARRANGEMENTS
Our doctors are committed to family life and therefore use GP Connect at the Southern Specialist Centre, cnr South & O’Sullivan Beach Road to provide after hours care. The service can be contacted by phoning the surgery phone number after 6pm or ringing direct 8326 0300. GP Connect bulk bills all consults.
BILLING ARRANGEMENTS
The cost of each consultation is at the discretion of each individual doctor. We request full payment on the day of consult. We accept all major credit cards and eftpos. We are also online with Medicare for direct claiming. As a general guide, for a standard consultation the fee is $56.00 and pension card holders $46.00. Health care card holders will not automatically receive a discounted fee. Immunisations and care plans will be bulk billed. A summary of our fees can be obtained by asking at reception. No bulk billing on a Saturday morning.
SMOKING POLICY
This practice has a no smoking policy.
Home visits are available for regular patients who are unable to attend the surgery due to their illness.within a 10km radius. We encourage patients to attend the surgery as much as possible. Home visits are carried out in the middle of the day hence you must ring as early as possible. Home visits at the end of the day or in the middle of consultation times are only done in an emergency. Consultation gaps for home visits are $30.00 and $15.00 for pension card holders.
APPOINTMENT CANCELLATIONS
Please notify reception staff if you are unable to attend an appointment at least 1 hour prior to time of consultation. If you are running late a phone call would also be appreciated. Failure to notify or attend may result in a fee.
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES
If possible please telephone the surgery first and we will advise what action to take. Urgent problems will be managed promptly. Extreme cases such as severe chest pain and bleeding should be managed by calling an ambulance on 000 directly.
TELEPHONE CALLS
For patients requesting to speak directly to a doctor, phone calls cannot as a general rule be put through to doctors who are in the middle of a consultation. However, a message will be taken and the call returned by either the doctor or staff member as soon as possible. Please advise reception staff if the matter is urgent.
REFERRAL POLICY
Referrals to a specialist can only be given after assessment by your doctor. Referrals can only be made as a consequence of a consultation and CANNOT BE BACKDATED. Repeat referrals of ongoing specialist care may require consultation at the discretion of your doctor.
REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS
To avoid mistakes, repeat prescriptions preferably require a consultation. Although this may seem inconvenient in many cases ongoing monitoring of all medication is essential. If the consultation is just for a repeat prescription, no gap will be charged.
SICKNESS CERTIFICATE
Sickness certificates can only be issued as a result of a consultation. THESE CANNOT BE LEGALLY BACKDATED.
CONFIDENTIALITY
All patient consultations and records are strictly confidential. No information will be released unless your prior approval has been obtained in writing.
MEDICAL NOTES
Your doctor will make notes of each consultation. They are confidential but we will provide a summary when needed (eg; for travel or if you are transferring to another medical practice). Please ask the receptionist if you have any questions. To ensure continuity of care, your notes will be made available to the other doctors working at Wirreanda clinic. Please tell us if you do not wish for this to happen. We would encourage you to have a preferred GP at the practice for continuity of care, however you are welcome to see someone else if your GP is unavailable.
RECALL AND REMINDER SERVICE
All women having a pap smear test are automatically put on a two year recall system. If you wish other check ups, eg: immunisation, diabetes, all blood tests etc you can be included on our recall system. However it is the patients responsibility to recall reminder letters. If there is no response, the patient is taken off the recall system. Please inform us if you do not wish to be included in our recall system. We do take part in the National screening programs, eg: Cervix Screening, Breast screen, National Bowel Cancer Screening Program and Insure.
RECEIVING YOUR TEST RESULTS
Your doctor will advise when they expect results to be arrive at the practice. Please phone the clinic for your results. X-ray follow ups are generally made at the time of appointment. It is your responsibility to follow up all test results, however should a result be abnormal we will contact you ASAP.
INFECTION CONTROL
All non-disposable instruments are sterilised in accordance with the Australian College of General Practitioners guidelines. An autoclave is used for this purpose and is regularly serviced and checked to ensure efficiency.
MINOR OPERATIONS
Our Surgery is equipped to perform uncomplicated surgical excisions, simple fracture management and suturing of lacerations. If required such procedures can be booked after consultation with your doctor.
PARKING
We have had some complaints from neighbours unable to access their property due to some patients occasionally parking across their driveways. We would remind patients that blocking driveways is illegal, and appreciate your cooperation. We also have a disabled car park located in the car park.
TRANSLATING SERVICE
You can contact the translating service on 1300 131 450 for any help.
FEEDBACK
Our practice attempts to provide the best possible care and attention to our patients at all times. We ask patients to complete questionnaires from time to time and seek feedback as a confidential way to evaluating any problems. If you are unhappy with any aspect of the care you receive please feel free to discuss this with your doctor or with the practice manager and we will try to deal with any problems to your satisfaction. We are committed to quality improvement and our practice is accredited with AGPAL.
However if you feel there is a problem you wish to take up outside our practice, you may prefer to contact the South Australian Medical Board. Medical Board of SA, PO Box 359 STEPNEY 5069 PH: 8362 7811
