We are happy to welcome new patients to Heathmont General Practice. We would appreciate your patience in filling out our new patient information form, as this will facilitate the setup of your care at our clinic. We would appreciate if you could bring along all your medications (or a list), and any past medical history available with you to your first visit.
Consultations are by appointment. Our receptionists will organise an appointment with the doctor of your choice in the most appropriate time frame possible.
If you have multiple issues to discuss, please make a longer appointment to allow the doctor adequate time to manage your concerns. This will also help us reduce unexpected prolonged waiting times.
As a general guide :
If your medical issue requires more time for your doctor to explore and work with you for the best outcome, they may ask you to extend your consult or to return for a further consultation.
Please advise our reception staff if an urgent appointment is needed. We will endeavour to provide you with an appointment with a doctor if possible.
We understand that your time is precious and all doctors strive to keep waiting times to a minimum. Unexpected delays and emergencies in general practice are sometimes unavoidable, and the reception staff will advise you on arrival if prolonged waiting times are expected.
At each appointment the reception staff will ask you for your name, date of birth and address or phone number, even when they know who you are or you’ve only just been to the clinic the day before! This is to ensure that your contact details are up to date, but to ensure that the correct file is used when you consult with your doctor. Thank you for your patience with us!
Heathmont General Practice is a privately billed clinic, and payment is expected on the day. An account keeping fee will be charged if the account is settled later. A discounted fee is offered to all pension card holders. Veterans Affairs Gold Card holders are bulk billed.
Out of pocket costs may be incurred for procedures, fracture management and wound dressings.
A list of fees is available at the reception desk, and on the notice board in the waiting room.
As a courtesy to our other patients, please give at least 2 hours’ notice for cancellation of appointments. Failure to do so will incur a late cancellation fee, as will consecutive non-attendance.
The doctors will review investigation results regularly. From 9th October 2023, patients will be notified of their doctor’s requests for follow up via SMS, once all their results have been reviewed and actioned by their doctor. You will receive an SMS with one of the following advice :
If you require a further action as above you will be directed to ring our receptionists on 9720 9000 to organise the appropriate follow up.
If your results are marked as “no action required” but you have ongoing symptoms or would like to discuss further, please organise a review appointment with your doctor as there may be further actions required at review.
We hope this system will make results follow up easier and more timely for you.
An appointment with your doctor is required for repeat prescriptions. This can be done as a face-to-face appointment or a telehealth appointment.
It is a legal requirement under the Medicare Act that a referral to a specialist only be given after due consideration by the treating physician. An appointment with your doctor is required for repeat referrals. This can be done as a face-to-face appointment or a telehealth appointment.
In general if you have a query about your health we would request that an appointment be made with your doctor so this can be discussed face to face. A telehealth appointment may be arranged for repeat prescriptions, repeat referrals or discussion of results if your doctor feels the issues can be addressed adequately over the telephone.
When you ring with a message for a doctor, reception staff will take some brief details to assess the urgency and appropriateness of your request – sometimes the nurse or the practice manager can help you in a more timely manner, at other times the message may need to be relayed more urgently. When deemed appropriate, an intramail is generated to the relevant doctor, and they will endeavour to return your call within 3 business days. Due to the volume of messages the doctors receive there may be further delays. Please speak with the practice manager if you feel your request needs to be dealt with more urgently.
Some doctors are shared antenatal care affiliates with Eastern Health (Box Hill and Angliss Hospitals) as well as the Mercy Hospital in Heidelberg. If you are pregnant and considering shared care we would appreciate if you organise your first appointment as a long appointment. This will allow the doctor time to adequately cover important information and organise the investigations that are essential for your care. It will also allow you time to ask any questions that you may have in regards to your pregnancy.
Please note that our doctors do not participate in care arrangements for private midwife home births and are unable to provide referrals for that service.
Routine childhood immunisations are performed by our qualified practice nurse. These consultations are bulk billed.
If you should want your doctor to perform the immunisation, please inform the reception staff at the time of booking. Immunisation consultations with a doctor are charged a normal consultation fee.
Home visits are available to those who are unable to attend the clinic due to medical circumstances, within close proximity to the clinic. Home visits are available only to regular patients of the clinic, and have to be requested and approved by the attending doctor. Home visits may attract a consultation fee.
As part of the management of your health, you may be put on our recall system and from time to time receive reminders for follow up or invitations for preventative health assessments. This may be in the form of a SMS (secure message to your mobile number) or a letter. If you do not wish to be on the recall register please speak with our practice manager.
Your privacy is important to us. The practice runs on a computerised, paperless system. Access to computer records containing your information is restricted to medical staff and password protected, with up-to-date IT support. Hard copies of paper files are disposed of in a secure manner.
This practice uses POLAR GP: POLAR software is used to help us provide you with the best medical care. The information is secure and CANNOT identify patients. This shared with your local primary health network to improve health services in the area. The information is used for planning health services across your community and research projects with ethics approval.
Please let reception staff or your Doctor know if you do not want your information to be included.
Your feedback is appreciated for the continued improvement of our practice. You can leave your written comments in the box available in the reception area. If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our services, please speak to your doctor directly or our practice manager Laura Unternahrer on 9720 9000. Please note that we follow the recommendation of the RACGP “Guide on Responding to online Reviews” and will not respond to online and social media reviews – please speak directly to your doctor or our practice manager. If this fails to resolve the issue, you can contact the Health Complaints Commissioner on 1300 582 113.
