Appointments

Standard appointments are 10-15 minute duration. Appointments can be conveniently booked online, in person, or over the phone.

Consultations are generally by appointment only. Although we can cater for walk-in patients, please note that priority will be given to Emergencies and patients with pre-booked appointment.

During COVID-19 please understand EVERYONE arriving to the practice must be triaged by reception staff prior to arrival for your safety and the safety of our team. Most of our appointment will be Telehealth where your doctor will conveniently call you and discuss all your needs over the phone. Where a face-to-face appointment is necessary your doctor will advise.

If you have multiple health concerns or feel you need an extra long consultation, we are here to help –please let us know you require a longer appointment so we can schedule appropriately for you in order to minimise extended wait times or delays.

Longer consultation is required for:

• New patients to the practice
• First antenatal visit (Mother and baby)
• Travel health,
• Mental health care plans,
• Insurance medicals,
• Pre-employment medicals,
• Female health checks (including Pap Tests)
• Procedures
• Refugee health check

All standard consultations are Bulk Billed. Non-standard consultations and certain procedures like IUD removals, dressing changes using particular dressings, flu shots etc. may attract an out of pocket expense. Reception staff will inform you prior if this applies to you.

Following services may be classified as non standard doctor visits:

• Suturing of wound
• Hormone implant insertion/removal
• Insurance and commercial forms
• Centrelink and other forms may be privately billed at discretion of doctor. There is no Medicare rebates for visits not related to an illness
• Pre-employment and Driving medical assessments
• Cosmetic consultations and treatments are generally not covered by Medicare
• Ingrown toenail removal
• Excisions

Non Attendance Policy (DNA)

Appointments that are missed or cancelled at the last minute interfere with appointment availability for other patients, as well as place a significant cost to our practice.

We send SMS reminder to all patients a day in advance where you are asked to confirm whether you are able to attend or not. Replying to the reminder SMS with a YES or Y confirms your intention to arrive and replying with a NO or N will automatically cancel your appointment making that time available for someone else.

If you are unable to attend your appointment, we require a minimum of 2 hours notice for standard 15-min consultations so we can give your appointment to someone else. If you need to cancel an appointment please contact the practice directly. For Covid-19 vaccinations, longer appointments, and Procedures we require 24 hours notice.

Missed appointments without adequate notice may incur a non-rebateable charge of $35.00 per appointment.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in the matter.

Recalls and Reminder System

We SMART Recalls through to send secure recall notifications directly to your mobile. The message will contain name and phone number of our practice so you know it is from us, plus it will have a secure and unique link we want you to feel confident to open. By clicking the link it will verify patient by asking only the  surname and date of birth of the person named in the message. For your privacy, after patient is verified, only then it will display the type of appointment required. No health information is shared in this message.

Our practice is committed to preventative health care. It is practice policy to enrol patients for Pap smears, Health Assessments, Asthma, Care plans and reviews, Diabetes, Immunisation, Contraception, Blood tests, Blood pressure and Cholesterol reminders appropriate to your individual care.

For a video of how SMART recalls works click here

Results Advice

To protect your privacy and ensure that all results are managed in accordance with Best Practice, staff at CGMC are unable to comment on or discuss any results over the phone. All results need to be discussed with your doctor, in person or over the phone.

We usually send a secure link to your mobile saying “Your doctor has requested you book a follow up appointment to discuss recent test results” with a link to book your appointment or you can call the practice and speak to our friendly receptionist to book for you. Please ensure a follow-up appointment is made to discuss your results with your doctor.

For a video of how SMART recalls works click here

Drug Policy

It is the general policy of this practice not to prescribe drugs of dependence.  (For example Benzodiazepine, Narcotics etc). For new patients requesting certain restricted medications, you doctor will require your complete medical record.

We use SafeScript.

SafeScript is computer software that allows prescribing and dispensing records for certain high-risk medicines to be transmitted in real-time to a centralised database which can then be accessed by doctors and pharmacists during a consultation. SafeScript provides prescribers and pharmacists with a clinical tool to make safer decisions about the prescribing or dispensing of high-risk medicines, and facilitate the early identification, treatment and support for patients who are developing signs of dependence.

Home Visit & After Hours Service

Our practice employs the National Home Doctor Service to provide you after hours medical attention when the practice is closed.

You can call 137 425 (13SICK) to speak to doctor on duty.

The National Home Doctor service is FREE for valid Medicare Card holders, however they will advise if there are any other fees.

In certain circumstances we do provide home visits during normal hours of practice operation to regular patients if you are too sick to attend the surgery, providing you live in the practice local area.

Multilingual Services

We have male and female multi-lingual doctors at the practice to help you. If an interpreter is required, please let us know and we are happy to arrange one for you. 

Hearing impaired patients can contact Casey Gate Medical Centre

Option 1: TTY – 1800 555 630

Option 2: Use National Relay Services (NRS) via website or instant messaging services (Skype and MSN) to enter (03) 9510 7888 to make a call.

Waiting times

We understand your time is valuable and that no one likes to be kept waiting, so we work hard to adhere to appointment schedules. It’s important to realise that our doctors take a holistic approach to patient care and will spend the necessary time to appropriately assess and complete each patient visit. We will do our very best to ensure we run on time and minimise any potential wait times.

You can help reduce waiting times by informing us if you require a longer consultation or if more than one family member will be consulting with the doctor. Pleas see “Appointments” below for further information.

Due to the unpredictable nature of medical practice, it means that doctors sometimes run late for a number of reasons:

Please feel free to call our surgery prior to your appointment to check whether your doctor is experiencing any unforeseen delays.

Feedback

In an effort to continually improve and provide the best service, we encourage patients to give feedback. If you think we are doing a fantastic job, or if you are unhappy about any aspect of the care you receive from this practice we are keen to know about it. Please feel free to talk to the practice manager about any problems you have with the service we provide.

You may want to leave a letter at reception for the attention of practice manager, or use our feedback form and drop in the suggestions box at reception. Alternatively you may prefer to email us at manager@caseygatemc.com.au

We believe that problems are best dealt within the practice. Indeed, we want to know if you are concerned about any aspect of our service. We will try our best to resolve any issues and obtain the best outcome. However, if the problem cannot be resolved to your satisfaction at the clinic, you may prefer to contact the Victorian Government centre that handles complaints. The address is:

Health Services Commissioner
30th Floor, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000.
Telephone: (03) 8601 5200 or 1300 582 113

Fax: (03) 8601 5219

www.hcc.vic.gov.au