Practice Information
Appointments
At Sunshine Coast Family Clinic, we offer appointments to any person needing to see a doctor. Appointment time slots are set at 15 minutes which is usually adequate to address basic health issues. If you have more complex issues or require a procedure or completion of insurance paperwork or employment medicals, please advise our friendly reception staff so an appropriate appointment time can be allocated. If you are booking online, please book a long consultation.
If you have other family members that need to see the doctor also, please ensure an appointment is allocated for them. If no appointment time is made, we will not be able to see them on that day. This is to ensure that the doctors do not run behind on other appointments.
On the day appointments are available for emergency situations including but not limited to illness of small children and the elderly and compromised patients
To book an appointment over the phone please call (07) 5438 8828, alternatively you can book online with Health Engine at www.healthengine.com.au or via our website by simply selecting the book online tab. If neither of these options are suitable you are more than welcome to stop by the clinic and make an appointment face to face.
If any unforeseen circumstances do arise, our reception staff will attempt to make contact with you to make alternate arrangements such as arriving at a later time for your appointment or rescheduling your appointment.
Cancellations
As appointments are in high demand, you are required to advise reception in a timely manner if you are unable to attend your appointment.
If you fail to advise reception with 1 hours’ notice or fail to attend your appointment at all, you will be charged a $10 ‘Did Not Attend’ fee. You will be required to pay for this prior to your next consultation.
Telephone Access
If you have something you wish to discuss with your doctor, it is best done during a consultation therefore we encourage our patients to make an appointment. However you are more than welcome to contact the clinic and our friendly reception staff will take a message. In the case of an emergency, your call will be transferred to the nurse to be triaged. Alternatively, if the matter isn’t urgent, you may send an email however our emails are not encrypted therefore please ensure no confidential information is sent.
Home Visits
From time to time, your doctor may need to visit you in your home and this may occur in or out of clinic hours. Arrangements will be made between you and your doctor.
Referrals
In order to meet our legal and ethical obligations, all referrals require a consultation with a doctor. If you fail to obtain a new referral prior to your appointment and call on the day of your appointment needing a referral, we can not guarantee that your doctor will be able to provide this for you therefore we ask that you arrange an appointment for your referral prior to making your specialist or allied health appointment.
Repeat Prescriptions
In order to meet our legal and ethical obligations and monitor your health, all repeat prescriptions require an appointment with your doctor (or a doctor of the clinic). Since the introduction of the telehealth consultations, it has made it a lot more convenient for patients to access these services without having to present to the clinic, however, regular visits to your GP are vital to ensuring your health and safety is being maintained. Therefore we ask that where possible, please arrange a face to face appointment with your doctor so a thorough examination can take place.
We understand that in some circumstances this is not possible due to various reasons such as travel time or urgency of the medication required, therefore your doctor may write your repeat prescription and a small fee of $20 will be charged for this service.
Test Results
- It is our policy not to notify clients if an appointment with the doctor is not required following tests.
- Our reception staff are not permitted to disclose your test results.
- If your doctor has advised that a follow-up appointment will be necessary after your test, please allow 3 – 5 business days after you have undergone your test, in order to give the results time to be received by your doctor (or as per your doctor’s instructions).
- If you wish to discuss your test results with your doctor, it is preferred that another appointment be made.
- We do not disclose test results over the phone due to confidentiality Issues.
Fees & Billing
Sunshine Coast Family Clinic is a mixed billing service. Please refer to our ‘Practice Fees’.
Recalls and Reminders
Our practice is committed to preventative and holistic health care and follows best practice guidelines. Sunshine Coast Family Clinic works in cooperation with the National and State based recall and Reminder registers.
We may issue you with a reminder notice from time to time offering you preventive health services appropriate to your care. If you do not want to be part of this reminder system please tell the receptionist or your doctor
Our Policies
Contact with Doctors
Clinical telephone calls will be triaged by the team nurse and where deemed necessary calls will be referred to the Doctor. To minimise interruptions to consultations, you may be required to leave your contact numbers and a message, and your doctor will return your call at their earliest convenience. In some instances a face-to-face consultation with the doctor may still be necessary. If you are experiencing chest pain, difficulty breathing, bleeding, convulsions or vomiting please inform our staff immediately.
Recall & Reminder Systems
The clinic adopts a proactive and preventative model of care. As such, we have implemented a Patient Recall System for pap smears, immunisations, cervical and bowel cancer screenings, health assessments and for other services the doctors deem necessary for the individual patient.
You may be contacted via phone or text messages as part of our consultation bookings and recall system. If you do not wish to be part of our clinics or the state or national reminder systems please advise our reception staff.
Interpreter & Translating Services
If you require an interpreter for another language other than English we can arrange this for you through telephone or on-site interpretation with the Translating Interpreter Service – 131 450. If you are hearing impaired and require an interpreter we can arrange this through telephone or on-site interpretation with the National Auslan Interpreter Booking Service – 1800 246 945
Transferring Medical Records
We encourage patients to provide previous medical records where possible. If you would like us to arrange to have your medical records transferred to the clinic simply advise our reception staff. All patients over 16 years of age will be required to sign a consent form, parents or guardians can sign on behalf of patients under 16 years of age.
Please be aware that some clinics may charge a fee to have your records transferred, if you receive an invoice in relation to this you will need to contact the corresponding clinic.
A fee will be charged for the transfer of full medical file to another clinic, however a health summary can be released at no charge to the patient. A fee may be charged if medical records are requested by insurance or worker’s compensation companies or if a patient requests copies of their records.
Privacy
Our clinic complies with the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2012 and the Australian Privacy Principles. All information collected is treated as “sensitive information”. All patients’ health records and information are handled and stored to protect the privacy of the patient.
Our New Patient Information Form requests patients to sign an agreement for our doctors to discuss a patient’s health care/treatment with other relevant health professionals. Patients always have the right to decline this agreement.