When you book any of the above problems, ask if the appointment can be treated as an express appointment.

PATIENTS WHO WISH TO AVAIL THEMSELVES OF THESE APPOINTMENTS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THERE IS NO TIME IN THESE BRIEF APPOINTMENTS FOR MORE THAN ONE SIMPLE OBVIOUS DIAGNOSIS PROBLEM TO BE DISCUSSED. PATIENTS NEED TO MAKE ANOTHER APPOINTMENT TO DO THIS AT A LATER DATE.

ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCY

Always telephone the surgery first and you will be advised of the appropriate action.

WHAT ARE PRIORITY APPOINTMENTS?

For those who require a predictable "NO WAITING TIME", we offer “PRIORITY”APPOINTMENTS. However, these appointments are not bulkbilled. The actual professionally calculated cost of provision of this level of service is exactly double the current Medicare rebate.However we offer a reduced fee for a 10-minute appointment of $65 with a Medicare rebate of $34.30. A 20-minute appointment is $112 with a Medicare rebate of $65.20 We can provide an absolute minimum delay by reducing other appointments at that time to allow catch up for“unplannable” events. (This catch up time has to be funded by the patient since Medicare will not fund it.) These need to be prebooked and we have to book particular times / doctors to achieve this. A telephone call will be made should any emergencies arise which will prevent the start time being kept.

MEDICAL CERTIFICATES

These will not be issued for non-medical reasons apart from bereavement or family support. The patient must be seen at time of illness to write a certificate. They cannot be backdated as it is illegal.

REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS

Modern medications are potent and can lead to harmful side effects if taken inappropriately. It is important you be regularly reviewed while on medication to check for any possible side effects, to receive updates on whether it is still the best one for your condition and to remind you about interactions or new side effects warning with any other medication you may be taking.

This practice does not prescribe narcotics or drugs of addiction.

If you have not been seen for 6 months or more or we have never prescribed the medication for you in the past,repeat prescriptions will not be issued without a visit to the doctor.Repeat prescriptions may be provided, if appropriate for a $15.00 charge if not associated with a consultation and just picked up at front desk.

Please allow 24 hours after your request before picking up the script.

Repeat scripts for antidepressants will not be given without an appointment.

Pill scripts when pap is overdue will require a visit. Book a private billed 20-min for a pap/pill appt.

REFERRALS

Medicare requires the GP to see and assess their patients before referring any patient to a specialist. This referral process allows for the efficient and proper use of consultant resources and ensures fair and timely access to specialist services by patients who need them. Referrals are valid for 12 months. This is because, It is intended that patients visit their GP at least annually for reassessment and to ascertain if the referral is still indicated and has your latest up-to-date information.

By law, referrals CANNOT be backdated. Please do not ask doctors to do this, as they will have to politely refuse. The specialist's receptionist's role is to ensure you have a current referral before your visit.

Medicare has advised that phone calls from the specialists’ rooms on the day of consultation are not acceptable. If you see a specialist without a referral from your doctor, you will have to bear the cost of the consultation as no Medicare rebate will be payable. Provision of a referral usually requires a visit to the doctor to ensure all information is current and relevant. The fee for providing a referral without a consultation is $15 (no charge if done in a consultation)

PARKING

The closest parking is available at either Post Office Square car park or Wintergarden car park or Central Plaza 1or MacCarthur Central.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Interpreter services are available on request. It is essential that those patients with limited English skills have an interpreter present and book a long appointment. Another friend or family member may act as the interpreter if their English language skills are good.

CONTINUITY OF CARE

It is in your best interest to have a regular doctor. It is very important to see and speak to the same doctor to follow through on a problem. Doctors prefer not to take other doctors calls for results as they are not familiar with your history and cannot advise on what follow up you need and results cannot be interpreted without knowledge of your conditions. Therefore, obtaining results will require a visit to your doctor. Valuable information may be lost if you change doctors frequently. So wherever possible, speak to/ see the same doctor who ordered your tests and has been following your condition.

COMPLAINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

We constantly strive to give you the best possible care and attention. We value your feedback and have left forms in the waiting room to complete with any complaints or suggestions you may have. Please put forms in the suggestion box provided on the magazine table. Alternatively, ask to see the Practice Manager regarding your concern, which will be fully investigated and appropriate action taken.

STAFF POLICY

We value our staff who have a very difficult task juggling the needs of doctors, patients and ringing phones. Your patience is appreciated. As employers we are obligated to provide a safe workplace for our staff. Patients who verbally abuse or threaten our staff will be asked to leave the practice and seek their care elsewhere.

TELEPHONE CALLS

As you are aware, interruptions during the course of a consultation can be very distracting for both doctor and patient. Most queries are best dealt with by consultation, but if appropriate, your doctor will discuss a telephone query with you. If the doctor concerned is consulting, your call will be returned as soon as the doctor is able. However, there maybe a delay. Unless urgent or your doctor won’t be available, please ring after 2pm. This is to minimise the inconvenience to our other patients during consultations. Emergency situations of course are an exception, and if you feel you have a serious problem that requires immediate attention, please do not hesitate to call. One of the staff will speak with the doctor or the ambulance service if necessary.

If your doctor has asked you to return for results discussion (because they will take some time) and you prefer a phone consultation then you can call our 1900 number and book a telephone consultation. (Charges of $5/min apply and non refundable by Medicare)

OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM

The phones are busiest in the mornings taking appts, so unless it’s absolutely necessary, ring after 2pm for non-urgent matters. Should the receptionists be busy on other lines when you call you will be switched through to a voice message that will allow you to signal immediately to the receptionist if its an emergency, leave a message if preferred or to wait on the line until the receptionist is able to take your call. For those doctors participating in our automated results system, you can ring a direct number to retrieve voice mail messages for your routine non-urgent results 24 hours/day. (By prior arrangement with your Doctor in the consultation)

EMAIL

Email is only checked by front desk staff every other day as we have very few at this stage. It is suitable only for general inquires and is not for urgent; or same day queries. Do not use for appointment bookings or cancellations on the same day. Results cannot be given by email for confidentiality reasons. Medical queries are best dealt with by consultation. Our surgery email is not encrypted which means it could be intercepted and read by others external to the surgery thus so we will not discuss medical information via email, it is for general enquiries only.

TEST RESULTS

Test results are reviewed by your doctor, if the doctor has already asked you to return for results discussion please just make an appointment since the reason you will have been asked to return is that further discussion and follow up will be required no matter what the results are and this cannot be done over the phone. If it is impossible for you to return for discussion you can book a phone consultation if preferred($5/min).

If your doctor has asked you to ring our 24hr computerised results system for your results, ensure you were given a pin number to use at the consultation and ring at the interval stated by the doctor to allow time for the results to be inputted. If they are not there at the expected time, ring front desk and ask them to check what has happened. Be sure to input a 2^nd pin after the consultation to provide increased security for your result.

For confidentiality reasons receptionists cannot give any results to patients at the front desk or over the phone. Make an appointment or phone the computerised results system for results. This includes HIV and pregnancy tests. Make an appointment 4 working days later to receive your results.

A SINGLE recall letter will be sent for urgent / serious results only so make sure your contact details are up to date every time you visit us

We have introduced a $20 cancellation fee for a standard consultation for those who fail to notify us in advance (on more than one occasion). and $40 for a missed long appointment. This is to signal to our patients that cancellation of appointments is important in this practice.

WHAT TO DO IF WE ARE FULLY BOOKED AND YOU NEED TO BE SEEN?

If you give the receptionist an idea of what the problem is they will try their best to fit you in. Urgent appointments will always be seen if you indicate this when you call or referral to an appropriate centre will be arranged.

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

If you feel your illness could be infectious to others eg. German Measles, tell the receptionists so a private waiting area may be provided.

TRANSFER OF RECORDS

The introduction of the new privacy legislation has resulted in an increase in the costs of providing records and summaries. Where this task could be done by a receptionist before, the increase in complexity the legislation brings means now a doctor must do them. The privacy legislation allows for an administration fee to be charged in recognition of this increased complexity

We are happy to transfer care over to your new doctor . There is a fee of $40 to prepare a summary. (This is less than the Govt. charge for their record search/ retrieval fees).The cost of a copy of full records is much higher due to the time consuming nature of the doctors' record review that is required to be done for these. A quote will be given on request. We will post it to your new doctor on receipt of payment. A signed release form should accompany any request for transfer from the patient to their continuing care doctor. (form available here or at your new doctor). Requests will take maximum 1 month to process. There is an additional archive fee of $25 if offsite archives have to be accessed to fill your request.

HOME VISITS

Home Visits are available to our regular patients who live within 2 suburbs of the city centre and who are genuinely too sick to attend the surgery (they are provided during pre-arranged times by mutual agreement only). Requests are best made before 10am. Home visits are not bulkbilled. The cost of a home/hotel/workplace visit is $150 during office hours, to $200+after-hours. These fees reflect the costly nature of provision of out of office visits, costs of provision of city parking, & FBT on parking spaces.

AFTER HOURS

As our patients come from all over Brisbane,we have included as many options as possible for after-hours care.

We have an alternative number available to our regular patients to contact one of our GP's after hours. The number is listed on our business card and after-hours telephone message.

The surgery has arrangements with the following Emergency Centres. The private emergency centres have experienced doctors and offera quality efficient service.

Wesley Emergency Centre Auchenflower Ph: 32327333

St Andrews Priority Emergency Centre Central City Ph: 38344455

Greenslopes Private Emergency Centre Greenslopes Ph: 3394 7111

Mater Private Emergency Centres South Brisbane Ph 3840 1000

Or alternatively phone 12451 and ask for the nearest 24hr Medical Centre or nearest locum medical service for Home Visits in your area.

The Public Hospital Emergency Centres --Mater at South Brisbane, Royal Brisbane at Herston and Prince Charles Hospital at Chermside, Logan Hospital at Logan are open 24 hours/day.They are free but waiting times are 2-3+ hours.

COMPUTERISED AUTOMATED RESULTS SYSTEM

We have introduced a new automated results retrieval system for routine results. (For urgent results, the patient will be directly contacted by phone)

We are the only practice in Australia to have this facility

This will enable you to retrieve your results anytime day or night by using a PIN number. Doctors can (by prior arrangement with you) leave a voice mail results messages for you to retrieve in your personal voice mailbox. After retrieving your messages you can drop back to reception to make an appointment or to speak to a doctor (if you're ringing during office hours).

The benefit of this system apart from the obvious one of access day or night at your own convenience is, it has greater privacy. You can obtain your results even if your doctor is not in the surgery that day. (as long as there has been time to input their voicemail messages) It also tracks and records all results retrievals.

When visiting those doctors participating in this system, you will be given a PIN number at the consultation and the direct number to phone in to the system to retrieve your results. Ensure you add a 2^nd pin number after the consultation to increase security.

Check at each consultation with your doctor how you are to obtain your results (they are not automatically put in this system). Please tell us if you have any problems or concerns with this system. Your feedback is essential to its success.

THIS PRACTICE ENCOURAGES TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR HEALTH, THUS IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO OBTAIN YOUR RESULTS. THIS PRACTICE SEES OVER 1200 PATIENTS PER WEEK AND CANNOT CALL ALL PATIENTS ABOUT THEIR RESULTS. YOU MUST COME BACK OR ENSURE BY SOME OTHER MEANS THAT YOU HAVE OBTAINED YOUR RESULTS

Thus you will not be contacted regarding abnormal results of a non-urgent nature.These can wait until you next return. It is your prime responsibility to ring or return for your results. With results of a VERY serious nature, if you fail to ring or return a recall will be sent but you will be charged a $6 fee because this is what it costs us for every recall and this cannot be absorbed in a predominantly bulkbilling practice which already offers you a service at 50% discount to true cost.

To avoid the fee simply ring or return for results.

This $6 fee also applies to failure to follow through on referrals for investigations or specialist review if you have a significant symptom. This fee has been forced on us by changes in the law that force us to chase up patients. (We don’t like this anymore than you do). It wastes our staff time when they have other pressing matters to attend to.

To avoid this fee, please notify us of any delay in following through or your own decision not to follow through on a referral for specialists or investigations. Otherwise, if a recall is sent, it will incur the $6fee.

We have completed the Australia wide accreditation process for general practices and passed with high flying colours. Here is the summing up comment from the surveyors who reviewed our practice.

"HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE "

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES

MANOR XR & SPECIALISTCENTRE

GROUND FLOOR MANORAPARTMENTS

289 QUEEN ST (Next toGPO)

BRISBANE

PH 0409677626

WE OFFER A FULL RANGE OF HEALTH SERVICES

TO BOTH COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS

Including:

 Director Dr Margaret McAdam MBBS FRACGP MBA DAME