Fees are payable at the time of consultation by cash, EFTPOS and credit card. We do not accept cheques. The Medicare rebate can be claimed at the time of payment at reception or through Medicare online services. Bulk billing is available for all children up to the age of 16 years, health care card holders and pensioners. We are a mixed billing practice.

Fees are based on the length of consultation and if procedural or additional services were required. The consultation may be charged at a reduced rate, this is at the discretion of the doctor.

• To minimise delay, consultation is by appointment. Appointments can be made by phoning the medical centre on 65724888. Every effort will be made to accommodate your preferred time.
• SMS appointment reminders are sent 24 hours prior to your allocated time, at this time you can either confirm or cancel your appointment.
• Urgent medical matters will always be dealt with promptly and given priority.
• If you or family members require an interpreter service, we can organise this for you. Please advise reception staff when making your appointment.
• Please “check-in” with reception on your arrival to avoid an unnecessary delay in the waiting room.
• If you are unable to attend for an appointment, please cancel prior to the allocated time.
• Every effort is made to keep to appointment times, but this is difficult due to emergencies or unexpected longer consultations. To help us schedule appropriately, please tell our receptionists if your consultation is likely to be long, e.g. cervical screening, counselling, medicals, and if more than one family member is to be seen.

Home visits are reserved for patients too ill to attend the medical centre. Home visits are at the discretion of the doctor and within a 10km radius.

To minimise disruptions to patients whilst in consultation, Doctors will not take phone calls. Phone messages will be taken and forwarded to the doctor. Please give reception staff as much information as possible about your health concern and they will be able to advise the doctor. If more assistance is required one of our nurses may be able to help.

All instruments used for procedures are disposable to ensure patient safety.

Patients are required to return for a consultation to obtain test results, preferably with the doctor who ordered your tests. If any results are abnormal and/or require urgent attention, we will contact you. To facilitate this, please make sure reception have your current contact details including phone number and address when booking or on settling your account.

To further improve our service to you, we have implemented a patient reminder/recall system for preventative activities. This is a recall/reminder system in which we contact the patient either by SMS, mail, or phone for follow up of a preventative activity such as immunisation, cervical screening, skin check or pathology investigations for example.

Our practice also takes part in state and territory registers, such as the PAPNET register and AIR, to assist with timely reminders and recalls. The purpose of this reminder/recall system is to provide preventative treatments in a timely manner and confidentiality is always ensured.

If you wish to opt out of our recall/reminder system, please tell your doctor.

If you require a copy of your medical records to be sent elsewhere our practice will send this as a health summary. If full records are required, they will be sent in a digital encrypted format via Medical Objects or DVD disc in an accepted format. If the medical record is sent via mail, this is sent registered at a cost to the patient. Please discuss with reception staff.

Burdekin Park Medical Centre and the car parking area is strictly a non-smoking zone.

Car parking is situated at the rear of the centre. Disabled parking is available.

All clinical staff – doctors and nurses use a computerised medical records system to record consultations and information, order tests, provide prescriptions and specialist referrals. Our computers are password protected and backed up daily. Our systems are monitored using the latest technology and programs to ensure your data is protected.

All information recorded at the surgery is confidential. Doctors at Burdekin Park Medical Centre use Pen CS software to help provide you with the best medical care. This practice, like others around Australia, securely shares patient health information (that is not identifiable) with the local Primary Health Network. This data can be used by our practice for quality improvement, at the local government level to monitor disease and treatment patterns and at state level for planning and delivery of health care services and programs.

If you have any questions or wish to opt out, please ask reception.

Burdekin Park Medical Centre is committed to providing the highest standard of care to our patients and community. We choose to maintain RACGP accreditation which is a formal process involving external audits to ensure the delivery of safe, high quality health care. Accreditation is a sign of this practice’s ongoing commitment to quality patient care.

Our aim is to continually improve our services. From time to time we will invite patients to complete a questionnaire on how this can be done. These surveys are confidential and voluntary. If you are unhappy with any aspect of your care, please discuss it with your doctor or the practice manager or put your comments or suggestions in the “suggestions box” in the waiting room. We believe that problems are best dealt with in the centre. We would like to know if you are concerned about any aspect of our service. However, if you feel there is a problem you wish to take up outside our practice, you may prefer to contact the NSW Government Centre for handling complaints at:

Phone: 13 77 88
Write to: Customer Resolution Coordinator GPO Box 7057 Sydney NSW 2001
Visit: www.service.nsw.gov.au/contact-us/customer-complaints

As a part of our constant improvement approach to patient care we encourage you to provide feedback. As a first point of contact please advise the reception team that you wish to speak with the Practice Manager. Or, you can fill out a form anonymously and deposit it in the feedback box.

If you have a serious matter that is not resolved to your satisfaction you can contact the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission.

Visit their website – www.hccc.nsw.gov.au or Phone: 1800 043 159

Allergy & Anaphylaxis
http://www.allergy.org.au/

Asthma
http://www.nationalasthma.org.au/
http://www.asthmaaustralia.org.au/

Arthritis
http://arthritisaustralia.com.au/
http://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/

Cardiovascular
https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/
http://www.atrialfibrillation-au.org/

Dermatology
http://www.dermnetnz.org/

Diabetes
https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/
http://diabetesnsw.com.au

Stroke
https://strokefoundation.com.au/

Alzheimer’s Disease
https://fightdementia.org.au/

Children’s Health
http://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/parents-and-carers/fact-sheets
https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au
https://www.kidshelpline.com.au/teens/get-help/who-else-can-help/helpful-links/depression-mental-health.php
https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/content/what-autism

General
http://www.healthdirect.gov.au
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/

Travel Medicine
http://smartraveller.gov.au/guide/all-travellers/health/
http://www.cdc.gov/

Mental Health
https://www.beyondblue.org.au
http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/
http://headspace.org.au/
http://www.mindhealthconnect.org.au/
https://www.kidshelpline.com.au/teens/get-help/who-else-can-help/helpful-links/depression-mental-health.php
https://thiswayup.org.au/

Cancer
http://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/online-resources/
http://www.prostate.org.au/
https://www.bcna.org.au/
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/external-breast-prostheses-reimbursement-program
https://www.bowelcanceraustralia.org/media-and-resources

Chronic Medical Conditions Assistance
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/subjects/chronic-medical-condition-assistance
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/continence-aids-payment-scheme
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/medicare/external-breast-prostheses-reimbursement-program
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/essential-medical-equipment-payment
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/payment-finder/
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/service-finder/