Appointments
Please telephone (08) 8522 3444 from 8:00am weekdays for an appointment during consulting times of 8:00am to 5:30pm weekdays. On Saturdays, for urgent appointments only, please call from 8:00am for appointments commencing at 9:00am until 12:00 noon.
Due to hospital and on-call arrangements, it is not possible to provide a roster of doctor availability, however every effort will be made to accommodate your preferred time and doctor.
All the doctors operate as a team, so if your usual doctor is not available, we hope you will accept an appointment with another available doctor.
Emergency presentations are always given priority treatment; our reception staff will contact you if unforeseen delays arise.
Patients are required to advise the practice when they are unable to attend their scheduled appointment, and a minimum 2 hour cancellation period applies to all appointments after 10am. A 24hr cancellation period is required for clinic appointments.
Fees
All information relating to…:
Results
You will be asked by your doctor to contact the surgery to obtain the results of any test that are ordered. Please call our practice on (08) 8522 3444 between the hours of 9.00am to 1.00pm or 2.00pm to 5.00pm Monday – Friday and select option 3, to speak to a staff member regarding your test results.
Your doctor can advise you at the time of your test when you may expect a result to be available although we appreciate your understanding that sometimes unforeseeable delays may occur.
Where results are abnormal or the doctor wishes to speak to you regarding them, you will be contacted by the surgery. It is very important that we have up-to-date address and telephone contact details to enable us to reach you.
Patients are advised that without prior authorisation pathology results will not be released to anyone other than the patient themselves under any circumstances. Patients/carers must make prior arrangements with the practice if they require access to any medical information for a child 14 years or older as per the Privacy Act.
Specialist Referrals
The Medical Health Act requires that a doctor’s assessment must take place prior to any referral if a Medicare reimbursement is to be paid. Hence, retrospective specialist referrals will not be issued at this practice.
Information About Translators
A translation service is available for patients from non-English speaking backgrounds or those with limited English speaking skills, as well as the hearing impaired.
Should you require a translator, please advise our administration staff at least 48 hours prior to your appointment.
Reminder Service
This practice offers reminders for some health screens. These reminders are sent via SMS through HotDoc. If a mobile contact number is not supplied a letter will be sent. If you do not wish to receive reminders please let our administration staff know.
Appointment Preparation
Plan your visit to be the most productive time possible by following these simple tasks and tips prior to appointment arrival.
Online Bookings
We offer appointments using our on-line booking service HotDoc. Patients can book appointments using this service to access available appointments; this means you may not be able to choose your preferred doctor or appointment time.
Complex Problems & Longer Appointments
Medicals of all types and complex medical problems require longer appointments, which are available on request. Please ask our staff for details.
After-hours Emergency Treatment
After-hours, emergency and urgent treatment is available from Gawler GP Inc. at the Gawler Health Service, telephone (08) 8521 2043.
Gawler GP Inc. does not bulk bill and a fee will apply.
On-call responsibilities are shared between doctors from several practices in the Gawler area. You may therefore not be attended by one of the doctors from this practice.
Patients presenting at the Gawler Health Service are attending a private outpatient service and will be billed by the attending doctor.
Prescriptions and Sickness Certificates
In the interest of better healthcare, prescriptions and specialist referrals will not be issued without patient-doctor contact.
Where it has been agreed during a consultation that repeat prescriptions will be issued, 48hrs notice is required, and a fee of $5.50 will be charged on each occasion.
Sick Certificates will not be issued unless a doctor has consulted in relation to the condition for which the certificate is sought.
The Medical Health Act requires that a doctor’s assessment must take place prior to any referral if a Medicare reimbursement is to be paid, hence we cannot issue retrospective specialist referrals.
Confidentiality
Your personal health information will only be accessed by authorised persons for the management for your care, and will not be released or otherwise used except as detailed below without your written consent.
Patients are advised that without prior authorisation, pathology results will not be released to anyone other than the patient themselves under any circumstances. Parents/carers must make prior arrangements with the practice if they will require access to any medical information for children 14 years or older as part of the Privacy Act.
During the regular Australian accreditation process medical records are randomly selected by a General Practitioner for quality assurance purposes. If you do not wish your records to be used please inform your doctor. Only de-identified information may be used for research purposes.
Under the provisions of the Privacy Act, patients may access their health information. Requests should be addressed in writing to the practice manager.
A search fee will be charged for retrieval of records. If a copy of records is requested there will be a charge for supply of records.
