Faq

To provide high quality medical service for individuals and families, with continuity of care across a broad range of medical conditions. This includes provision of comprehensive after hours care.

It is our mission to treat all our patients with respect and compassion while managing illness and disease in a holistic manner. It is our intention to promote wellness and to practice preventative health.

Consultations are by appointment unless you have an urgent need. Please call us on 9598 7688. Urgent medical problems will be dealt with promptly. "Walk-ins" will be offered the next available appointment. Appointments are made at 15 minute intervals. If you have a complex medical problem or require an insurance or pre-employment medical, please advise our reception. Longer consultation times are available so please request this at the time of booking. If you or a family member requires an intrepreter, we can organise this for you. Once again, please request this at the time of scheduling your appointment. Our reception staff will attempt to contact you if there is any unforeseen cancellation of a session or if your doctor has been called away. You are always welcome to call 15 - 20 minutes before your allotted consultation time and ask if your doctor is running on time.

If you are unable to keep an appointment it is very important that you call us at least two hours beforehand to cancel. This enables us to give your time to another patient. We are often heavily booked and have to tell patients that there are not appointments available.

Southend Medical Centre provides 24 hour care for patients. The Melbourne Medical Locum Services provides a complete back up after hours facility for your doctor. For care outside of our clinic hours (when we are closed) please call 9429 5677 or 13 SICK

Home visits are available for our regular patients whose condition prevents them from attending the surgery who live within a reasonable distance from the clinic. Doctors in the practice can be contacted during normal surgery hours. A message will be taken and you will be advised by the reception staff when it is likely that the doctor can return your call. Your call will always be put through to the doctor or nurse in an emergency. Calls will be screened by the reception staff who may ask some questions to ascertain the nature of your request.

Please inform our receptionist of any changes to your personal details i.e. phone number, address etc. You can assist us by ensuring that your contact details, including a next of kin or an emergency contact is recorded on your patient profile, is up to date.

It is our policy to carefully assess any medical problems before making a decision on the need for initital specialist referrals. The later are not automatic - it is the GP's decision in consultation with the patient. Please schedule an appointment.

Consultation fees are charged according to the length of time a patient spends with the doctor, as per Medicare guidelines. The doctors at our clinic charge approx. $83.00 per 15 minutes and the Medicare rebate is $37.60, out of pocket expenses to you is $45.40. Bulkbilling is available to children under 16 years with appointments from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday that have a current Medicare card. Pension and Health Care Card Holders are charged at a discounted rate of $53.00 for item 23 and $90.00 for item 36. We can transmit your receipted account directly to Medicare on your behalf. If Medicare has your bank account details registered the rebate amount will be deposited back into this account. Once the consultations exceeds 20 minutes, this is considered by Medicare to be 'long consultation' or item 36. Our standard fee for this type of consultation is $143.00 and the Medicare rebate (refund) is $72.80, this leaves an out of pocket expense of of $70.20. Fees effective from 1st September 2018. Please note 15 minute appointments after 6:00pm on weekdays and appointments on Saturdays incur an extra $5.00 per visit and higher for longer consultations. Fees are subject to change. Consultations are automatically timed in our computer system to ensure our patients are charged accordingly. Patients with genuine financial difficulties should discuss fees with their doctor or please speak with our Manager. Scripts/Referrals There is a $15.00 to $20.00 charge for scripts and $15.00 to $25.00 for referrals that are issued without a consultation. These are at the discretion of the doctor who may request that you must attend for an appointment for a prescription renewal. Some prescriptions will not be repeated without a consultation. We are now also offering 5 minutes appointments for repeat prescriptions and referrals that will be bulkbilled. Please talk to administration staff.

Our practice has been granted full accreditation by the College of General Practice under GPA Accreditation Plus. Accreditation gives our patients the assurance that the delivery of services and facilities at Southend has gone through a process of quality improvement in all areas including sterilisation, medical records and medical equipment and that this process is one of continuance. You may be asked to participate in our practice surveys for our practice improvement.

Our practice participates in the VMA - Victorian Metropolitian Alliance training program. This program offers an opportunity for us to employ Doctors who are fully qualified and have applied to undertake specialised training in General Practice. These terms are usually for 6 months.

Telephone calls that are urgent will be transferred to the doctor immediatly. For all other calls the reception will advise you on the requested doctor's telephone call policy. If required your call will be transferred to the nurse on duty. Patient health information will not be tansferred by email, as it is not an encrypted communication medium. With your permission we are able to send you appointment reminders and recalls to your mobile phone via SMS. We are also able to SMS to your mobile messages from your doctor.

Our Practice is committed to preventative care. We may issue you with a reminder notice from time to time offering you preventative health services appropriate to your care. If you do not wish to be part of this system, please let us know. PAP Screening recalls are registered with the National State - Territory reminder system.

Your medical record is a confidential document. It is the policy of this practice to maintain security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of staff. Your medical information will not be released to a third party without the consent of the patient. A copy of our privacy policy is available on request from reception.

If you wish to transfer your health record to another service provider please ask your new health provider to send Southend Medical Centre a request for transfer of your medical file application signed by you. Alternatively, if you would lke Southend Medical Centre to obtain records from another service provider, please see reception for a transfer request form.

Southend Medical Centre respects the fundamental righrs of all clients and community members to have an accessible, confidential and constructive avenue for providing positive or negative feedback about our services and for having these comments or complaints dealt with in a fair and efficient way. Written complaints or suggestions can be placed in the "suggestion box" located in the waiting area at our centre or given to a member of staff. Southend Medical Centre also welcomes verbal complaints. Verbal complaints may be about a minor matter that would not in the normal course of events generate a written complaint eg, delays in appointment times. Please feel free to talk to members of staff. Please feel free to talk to your doctor, practice manager, nurse or reception staff if you have a suggestion or complaint. The Practice Manager is also available to speak with you. We take your concerns, suggestions and complaints seriously. All complaints are discussed at management level and a response make in writing if appropriate. However, if you wish to take the matter further and feel that you need to discuss the matter outside of the centre there are several options available including the Medical Board of Victoria on 9655 0500 or the Health Complaints Commissioner, Level 30, 570 Bourke Road, Melbourne, phone 1800 136 066 (free call).