This page has been prepared to help you understand the nature of our clinic. Should you require additional information, please feel free to speak with our reception staff.

We provide many services for our patients which include:

  • onsite pathology 4Cyte Pathology
  • General Family Medicine
  • Skin Cancer Clinic
  • Aged Care
  • Health Assessment
  • Diathermy
  • Cryotherapy
  • Ear Irrigation
  • INR & BSL
  • Travel Advice
  • Vaccinations
  • Minor Procedures
  • ECG
  • ABI
  • Cervical Screening
  • Women’s Health
  • Chronic Illness
  • Q-Fever Vaccination
  • Worker’s Compensation

APPOINTMENTS

An appointment system is used by this practice to minimise waiting time. However, as it is not possible to predict when emergencies and complex problems may arise, delays may sometimes occur. It would will help us keep to time if you:

Arrive punctually

Notify reception of your arrival

Advise our staff, when booking-in, if you need a long consultation

Limit the consultation process to the person who has the appointment (one per patient)

A standard consultation is 15 minutes long, if you require a longer appointment please notify reception when booking.

For a routine appointment, it is advisable to ring several working days in advance to obtain an appointment at a time suited to you. We encourage you to see the Dr of your choice for your consultation.

For an urgent appointment, please alert our staff at the time of your call that the problem is of a priority nature and you will receive an appointment on the day of your call. Patients with an urgent problem will be seen by a Dr, although this may not be with the Dr usually attended. Subsequent care will be available from the doctor of your choice.

For an emergency appointment, please emphasise your concern to the staff and you will be further advised.

Telehealth appointments for existing patients who meet the criteria

Walk in appointments will be triaged upon arrival

Bookings can be booked online via HOTDOC or phone 02 6553 4255

PLEASE ENSURE STAFF ARE AWARE WHEN YOUR PROBLEM IS URGENT

PRESCRIPTIONS

For best medicine practice, patients are advised that they must return for a consultation for script renewals. Staff have been directed to adhere strictly to this policy.

AFTER HOURS ARRANGEMENTS

For urgent after hours please dial TRIPLE ZERO (000) for emergency ambulance or present to the Manning Base Hospital located in Taree.

IF YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, PLEASE CALL THE EMERGENCY AMBULANCE ON TRIPLE ZERO (000)

TELEPHONE ACCESS

If you telephone the surgery with an urgent problem, your call will be put through to the Nursing Sister, who will be able to assist you to access emergency care. If a nurse is not available you will be put through to the Dr. For less urgent matters, our receptionists will take a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible.

CONSULTS OUTSIDE OF THE PRACTICE

Home visits are available for situations of genuine need, or those with certain medical conditions. Should you believe your conditions requires a home visit by your Dr, advise staff early in the day so that all options may be considered and disruptions to the practice minimised.

CONSULTATIONS – FEES AND CHARGES

The Drs of this practice strive to provide a service of the highest standard to each patient at all times. Drs are vocationally registered practitioners, indicating that they are accredited to a high standard and that they are up-to-date in their knowledge.

To practice medicine to the highest standard, we believe that appropriate time should be set aside for each consultation, that staff be experienced and helpful, and the surgery be well-equipped. If you have a specific cultural background(s) please advise your Dr to that they can be sympathetic to your cultural needs.

Some consultations with your Dr take extra time and we need to able to plan for this. These visits include having multiple or complex problems to discuss, insurance examination, Centrelink forms or a procedure to be undertaken (for example, having a mole removed or an echocardiograph). When making an appointment for purposes such as these, please notify our staff so that additional time is put aside for your visit. Access Health Care Drs will bulk-bill all children under the age of 16 years old. Holders of DVA will be asked to present their card and sign the assignment form. All other consultations are asked to be paid for at the time of the consultation. If you are a Pension or Health Care Card Holder, you will be required to pay for your first consult of each calendar year privately and you will be bulk-billed for each consult after for the remainder of the year. All private patients will be asked to pay for their consultation at the time of the consult. Should there be any query with your accounts, or any aspect with your medical expenses, please discuss the matter with your Dr.

TRANSLATING SERVICES

We have Drs practicing at Access Health Care who originate from various countries. If you have a specific language, please speak to our receptionist and we will try to accommodate your request. If you have trouble understanding the medical advice you have received or have trouble explaining yourself to our Drs or to our staff, we can contact the Medical Translating and Interpreting Service 131 450. We are also able to access various print materials through Medicare, Department of Health and Aging NSW Health Department.

REMINDER SYSTEM

Our practice is committed to preventative care. We participate in national and state reminder systems e.g. pap smears and childhood immunisations. 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 at reception.

MOBILE PHONES

All Drs strive to avoid unnecessary interruptions whilst you are having your consultation. To further assist us in giving you our full concentration and attention we ask that mobile phones be switched off or turned on silent when entering the surgery.

MANAGEMENT OF YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

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 authorized members of staff.

REFERRALS

Are faxed and a copy is given to the patient.

YOUR RIGHTS

We are striving to provide you with a high quality service. If you have a problem we would like to hear about it. Please feel free to talk to your Dr or the Practice Manager. You may prefer to write to us. We take your concerns, suggestions and complaints seriously. However, if you wish to take the matter further and feel that you need to discuss the matter outside of the surgery there are several options available including The Medical Board of NSW, AMA or Health Care Complaints Commission (1800 043 159).

This practice has a no smoking policy

This practice is committed to quality improvement and is accredited by the QPA

OUR PRIVACY POLICY
Introduction
This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.
Why and when your consent is necessary
When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.
Informed consent is obtained verbally (and documented in Medical Software) for each and every real time audio/visual recording, duplication and/or storage of a consultation, including telehealth and remote consultations.
Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?
Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (eg staff training).
For patient referrals to other healthcare providers, only the relevant information is passed on in that referral
What personal information do we collect?
The information we will collect about you includes your:
• names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
• medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
• Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
• healthcare identifiers
Dealing with us anonymously
You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.
How do we collect your personal information?
Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.

  1. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
  2. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information.
  3. In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:
    • your guardian or responsible person
    • other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
    • your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).
    When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?
    We sometimes share your personal information:
    • with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy
    • with other healthcare providers
    • when it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)
    • when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
    • to assist in locating a missing person
    • to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
    • for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
    • when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
    • during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.
We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.
Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.
Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data.
We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified and the information is stored within Australia. You can let our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.
Our practice may use Artificial Intelligence for scribing into patient records. He audio used for this disappears straight away and is never stored anywhere permanently. The AI product (if any) is used, it would comply with APPs (Australian Privacy Principles).

How do we store and protect your personal information?
Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms.
Our practice stores all personal information securely. eg electronic format, in protected information systems or in hard copy format in a secured environment. (Locked cabinet)
How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?
You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing (we have a specific form for this) and our practice will respond within a reasonable time. (within 30 days)
Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to the Practice Manager 2/101 Isabella Street Wingham NSW
This practice uses automated technology via medical software and takes reasonable steps to ensure that only relevant information is included in any referrals to a third party.
How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?
We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. the Practice Manager Access Health Care 2/101 Isabella Street Wingham NSW. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure.(within 30 days)
You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.