Appointments:

Urgent medical matters are always dealt with promptly. If it is a medical emergency, we recommend you Dial 000 for an ambulance, or present to the Emergency Department, at Sutherland Hospital Tel: (02) 9540 7111 or Wollongong Hospital Tel: (02) 4222 5000.

If you have an urgent medical matter, please phone and advise reception that the matter is urgent. Urgent matters are given priority.

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Walk-in appointments – Walk-in patients are offered the first available consultation and will usually be required to wait.

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Multiple family members to be seen – Please request an appointment for each family member.

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Booking a Longer Consultation – There are occasions when you will need to book a longer appointment, such as when your health problem is complex or you have multiple problems that need to be addressed. Similarly longer appointments should be requested for work or insurance medicals, counseling for emotional difficulties, or when seeking a second opinion from a different doctor. Please note that long consultation will be charged more out of pocket as the consultation is time - based.

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Follow up appointment - We do not Bulk Bill unless specified to us by the consulting doctor. This decision is at their sole discretion.

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Minor surgical procedures - Minor surgical procedures such as mole removal or skin lesion excisions will be charged privately.

 

Cancellations and rescheduling – If you are unable to make your appointment, please call to let us know in advance. We can then arrange another appointment time. 

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Cancellation fee - We require a minimum of 3 hours notice for any appointments. Cancellations within 3hrs or non-attendance will attract a cancellation fee:
- $50 for a standard consultation
- $70 for an extended consultation.

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Late for appointment time - If you present late to your appointment time, you have to wait again as the consultation is by appointment time.

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Reminders –  Our practice is committed to preventative care. We may issue you with a reminder notice from time to time offering you preventative health care. If you do not wish to be part of this service, please inform your doctor.

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Waiting times –  Please understand that as illnesses are unpredictable conditions, appointment times cannot always run on time. Our doctors, nurses and receptionists make every attempt to keep appointments running to their scheduled time however; unforeseen circumstances may create occasional delays.

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Home visits –   Home visits are available for patients whose condition or circumstances prevents them attending the surgery. Please call us to discuss the problem with our Medical Receptionists, Nurse or your GP. Home visits outside the local area are limited.

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Communication Services (Interpreter & National Relay Services NRS for hearing impaired)

To help our GP’s ensure they fully understand the nature of their your problem and that you fully understand the outcome of the consultation, please advise reception staff of any communication needs at the time of booking your appointment.

 

​Prescriptions may be written during a consultation. If you need repeat prescriptions please phone for a script appointment.
If you have consultation with our doctors, please make sure you ask all necessary scripts during consultation. Our doctors don’t provide script with telephone request.

Antibiotics script request or blood pressure medications are not a script appointment. Our doctors need to make sure whether antibiotics are really necessary for your medical condition. Your medical condition needs assessment, dose adjustment and investigations by doctor.

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Referrals to specialists can be done at the time of consultation and are valid for 12 months. You may require another appointment if your referral runs out. Our doctors cannot back date referrals. Referral cannot be given on phone request.

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Test Results are mostly received electronically, and often within a few days of having your test performed, however some tests may take much longer. Your doctor will give you guidelines as to how long your results would normally be expected to take to arrive.

We ask that you contact us 3-5 days following your tests for the results, unless instructed otherwise. In the event of an urgent result, we will contact you, however it is imperative that if you have not heard from us, that you phone us to ensure that your tests are within normal limits.

Please be aware that our Doctor can only pass on test results directly to the patient, or in the case of a child, the parent or guardian. We also make provision for those who have Enduring Power of Attorney over Health Matters.

If your test result is not in the normal range, our doctor will advise you for non urgent review.  Our doctors will not give result over the telephone.

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Skin check  -  Please note that skin check cannot be performed with any other consultation or procedures.

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You say. We listen. We act.

We have extened our weekend practice hours. 

Saturday               : 8:30am – 2:00pm

Sunday                 : 8:30am – 2:00pm

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Our Fees and Payment of Accounts:

Parkes Street General Practice DOES NOT issue accounts to individuals unless by prior arrangement.
FULL PAYMENT is to be made at the time of the consultation.

In the event where there is an overdue account, and this is referred to a collection agency and/or law firm, you will be liable for all costs which would be incurred as if the debt is collected in full, including legal demand costs.

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It is the policy of the Practice that payment for consultation is made at the time of consultation. We accept cash payments and have EFTPOS facilities available.

FULLY PAID CLAIMS WILL BE TRANSMITTED TO MEDICARE ON THE SAME DAY FOR PAYMENT OF REBATE INTO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT.

If an account is required for unpaid account, there is an additional administration fee of $10 which is not Medicare rebatable.

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Communication Policy (Also see Privacy Policy)

Due to privacy concerns, with the exception of children under 16 years of age, we can only speak with the patient about any health related matters unless we have permission from them allowing us to speak with a third party. For children under 16 years of age, we are able to speak with the parent. If you wish to give consent for us to speak to someone else on your behalf, this can be noted on our files for future reference. Please book an appointment, if you wish to discuss with our doctors.

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We may try and contact you regarding test results and messages from the doctor. We will only contact you regarding your test results if they are abnormal or require action. If you have not heard from us, please ring us on 02 42941400 to ensure that your results have been reported as normal. We may also try and contact you to confirm or change appointment.

We will try to contact you by telephone, using the numbers that you have listed, and we will leave a message on voicemail asking you to return our call. If we are still unsuccessful after 3 attempts, we will send you a letter. Please ensure that your contact details are correct at all times. If it is urgent, we will also try to contact your next of kin or emergency contact person that you have nominated.

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We may also contact you for routine follow up and routine recalls and reminders. In these instances we will send you a reminder letter in the mail. We will be soon implementing SMS reminders and recalls which we hope will be a positive change for us all. Please let our staff know when you are next speaking with us if you consent to this service.

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Can I speak to my doctor on the telephone? Your doctor is available to speak with you about important problems. However, as our doctors are with their patients most of the time,  the doctor may not be able to speak with you immediately. Depend on your concern, we strongly recommend you to make an appointment if necessary.

Don’t forget, if it is an emergency, please call 000.

 

Phone Calls and Emails –  If a patient would like to speak with his/her Dr, it will be up to the GP’s discretion. A receptionist will normally take a message on the Doctors behalf, and will only interrupt a consultation if the matter is urgent. We do not accept appointment bookings via email.

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Photographing, Video Recording, Audio Recording, and Other Imaging: Patients, family members, and/or visitors are not permitted to take photographs or audio record or video record without written consent from health professionals.

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Parkes Street General Practice has taken every care to inform its patients of the above Terms and Conditions and has these placed on waiting room notice boards; displayed at reception; included in the Patient Information Sheet which patients are required to complete upon their first presentation at Parkes Street General Practice.