Medical Centre Barham

This medical practice has zero tolerance for abusive and/or threatening behaviour towards our team members. This includes shouting, swearing, aggressive actions, threats, inappropriate gestures and name calling. Please treat us as you would like to be treated yourself. If you are abusive or threatening, you will be required to leave the clinic and transfer your care to another practice. Refusal to leave will result in the police being called.

When you book online, you can select a specific consultation type (eg a flu vaccine or a cervical screen), a 15-minute general consultation or a longer consultation. We recommend a longer consultation if you have several issues or a complex problem. While longer appointments are billed at a higher rate, the ‘gap’ you pay remains about the same.

Special appointments

Medical examinations for your driver’s license and other purposes require special bookings with the doctor or nurse. Please ensure that you select the appropriate option when booking online (or if booking over the phone, explain the type of medical exam to our receptionist.) Please bring any forms required with all relevant sections completed beforehand. You will also need to bring a form of identification such as your driver’s license and, if you wear them, your glasses.

Procedures

The doctors we support at this practice perform minor procedures. Procedure appointments may be deferred to another time based on the doctor’s assessment. Your doctor will advise if this is necessary, and will advise of any fees that may be incurred.

Urgent medical problems

Urgent matters will always be dealt with promptly. Where appropriate they will take priority over booked appointments.

While the practice is committed to scheduling appointments at realistic intervals, there may be an increased waiting time due to one of the following:

• More complex problems than anticipated, which cannot be dealt with within a standard appointment of 15 minutes. For this reason, we suggest all patients book a longer consultation when they have a list of issues.
• Unplanned appointments: Despite the best planning, the nature of general practice is that sometimes patients require immediate attention and an “unplanned” appointment. We will ask for your patience or, if the wait time would be too long or you prefer, staff will re-schedule the appointment.
• Emergency calls: The GP on stand-by to a nursing home or hospital may be called in case of an emergency. In this event, staff will make every effort to re-schedule your appointment.

If you are running late, please ring to see whether it is possible to fit you in or to arrange another suitable time. Staff will do their best to help you and accommodate your needs. But being late may be unfair to other patients who would be made to wait.

Cancellations: If you are unable to attend your scheduled appointment, please contact us to change your appointment time or cancel. We require 2 hours notice for cancellations of appointments. A fee of $50 may be charged for repeated cancellations at short notice or non-attendance of appointments. Please note that this fee is not eligible for the Medicare rebate.

Quantum provides doctors with premium support and facilities infrastructure. Private fees are charged as patients are provided with quality care delivered by doctors who genuinely care about them. Your doctors listen carefully to patients, they allow time for proper discussion of any issues and a physical examination if required, and they keep detailed records. If they believe a patient needs more of their time, they do their best to give it to them. As an organisation, we also invest in the best equipment available to support doctors, as well as detailed clinical protocols to keep everybody safe.

The same charge is applied for phone and video consultations as for in-person consultations because they require the same amount of the doctor’s time. Your Doctors at Quantum medical always aim for patients to get the same level of care and value from all of their appointments, whether they are in-person or in the convenience of their homes via phone or video.

Vaccines

Vaccines funded by the government, eg childhood vaccinations, are provided at no cost. Other vaccinations are available at the practice and will incur a cost, which will be discussed with the nurse or the doctor during your appointment. In some cases, advance arrangements can be made with your doctor to obtain a prescription and bring the item(s) with you for your appointment.

Treatment fees

Patients who need to visit our treatment room may be charged a fee for the services they receive in addition to their consultation fee. This fee covers the care provided by our nurses, including dressings, wound care and other procedures. You will be informed of any fee in advance.

Worker compensation, insurance and occupational health

We do not bill WorkCover directly unless you have a letter accepting your claim, with a claim number and billing information. If you do not have such a letter, we will bill you as normal and you will need to seek reimbursement from your employer or WorkCover.

Doctors practising at Quantum medical prioritise patient consults in the surgery and are generally unable to receive or return patient phone calls. As most issues are best dealt with in a consultation, we encourage you to schedule an appointment at a convenient time. A telehealth consult can be booked online if you would prefer an appointment via a video link or the telephone. Some conditions require a face-to-face visit and your doctor may communicate this to you during a telehealth consult.

Our app is the easiest way to manage your health

• Book appointments
• Add them to your calendar
• Get reminders
• Online check-in and queue information
• Important health updates

We comply with all professional and statutory privacy obligations. All information provided by you to the practice, whether to your GP or staff, is strictly confidential and will not be shared with any third party unless you request it, or sharing it is required by law.

The sharing of your health information with other health professionals will always be discussed with you first.
Your information is stored securely, and all staff are trained in the management of health information and confidentiality.

If you wish to access your health information, please discuss this with your doctor. For more, see our privacy policy.

Recall and reminder systems

As appropriate, you will automatically be enrolled in the reminder systems administered through the practice. Please advise reception staff if you would prefer this not to happen.

Recalls will occur when the doctor requests you return for an important or urgent matter.

Emails

Privacy legislation limits our ability to send emails containing health information to you or request any information, personal or health related, via email. In some cases, exceptions can be made with your consent.

Contact details

Maintaining up-to-date contact information is essential: please let us know of any changes to your contact details, including your next of kin in case of an emergency or if we cannot contact you for an urgent matter.

Please make an appointment if you require referrals, certificates or repeat prescriptions. Your doctors have a duty of care to ensure that any repeat medication or referrals remain appropriate, and a short consultation is required to check on this.

These appointments can generally be made for the same day if urgent.

Doctors cannot backdate a medical certificate in any circumstances.

We believe that patients share responsibility for ensuring that they carry out the tests requested and follow up on the results of any tests performed.

By phone

Generally, results will not be given out over the phone as our reception team are not trained to interpret results. Please talk to reception if this causes any concerns.

Third parties

We will not give out test results to any third party for privacy reasons.

Appointments

We will prompt you, at the time of the investigation or referral, to make further appointments to discuss results as appropriate. You may also be contacted by the practice and asked to make an appointment with your GP to discuss your results.

How long will my results take?

The time to get your results depends on the type of test: blood results often take 3-5 days; some scans can be provided electronically on the day of the test, while others will take significantly longer. Rest assured you will be notified as soon as possible for seriously abnormal or urgent results.

We welcome your feedback. If you have a comment or complaint, you are welcome to provide this feedback via the Patient Comment Form available at Reception.

If you prefer to provide your feedback outside the practice, you are welcome to use our feedback form.

Complaints and comments about our practice can also be provided directly to the Health Care Complaints Commission.

• Improved health outcomes through a formal relationship with your general practice clinic and GP.
• Access to Medicare rebates for longer telehealth consultations with your GP.
• Better connection to appropriate care in general practice, particularly for those who frequently visit the hospital.
• The option to have chronic disease management plans created (if eligible).