Frequently Asked Questions

We currently have limited Doctors with capacity to take new patients for general appointments.  To see which Doctors are currently taking new patients please view our Independent Practitioners Page.

Exceptions include patients wanting to book in the Breastfeeding & Parenting Clinic, for Iron Infusions, or in regards to IUD contraception and newborn babies of current patients. You will need to book these specific appointments by calling Reception on 8410 0774.

For new patients wanting to book with one of our Allied Health Practitioners, please check their individual information here.

We ask that new patients please take the time to read through our fees and policies before their first appointment, and that you arrive 15minutes early to fill in the relevant paperwork. Please complete your online new patient form before your appointment. PDF versions available separately for adults or children.

Please be aware that standard appointments are scheduled for 15 minutes – this is enough time for only one issue to be properly discussed within this time limit. Longer (double) appointments can be made for multiple or complex issues including:

• Mental health
• Sexual health check-ups
• Men’s health check-ups
• Women’s health check-ups
• Cervical Screening Tests (formally known as a pap smear)
• Pregnancy testing and counselling, shared care & postnatal care
• Contraceptive advice including IUDs (Intrauterine Uterine Device)

We have Doctors who have extra training for specific matters, so please make sure to tell Reception upon booking to ensure you are booked correctly. These areas are:

• Skin checks
• Pregnancy care
• Lactation consultancy
• Contraceptive IUDs (Intrauterine Uterine Device)
• Travel Vaccinations

Please refrain from requesting that another member of your family be seen during your appointment, if they do not also have an appointment.

We ask that you arrive a few minutes early for your appointment. This allows you time to find a park and check in at the front desk.

Patients are eligible for a Medicare-rebatable Telehealth consultation if they have had a face-to-face consultation at the Practice within the last 12 months.  Please note that there may be circumstances when your doctor will need to arrange a face-to-face consultation after your Telehealth consultation, in order to complete their assessment and examination.

Scripts

All prescriptions require an appointment. All patients are encouraged to check and request repeat prescriptions at each appointment.

Monitoring your medication and prescriptions, and booking appointments in advance, avoids situations where you may be left without important medications.

In cases of urgent need only, our Doctors may provide you a prescription with no repeats for your regular medication only; a fee of $33.50 will apply.

Referrals

All referrals (including ongoing) require an appointment. To avoid situations where you may be left ineligible for a Medicare rebate from your Specialist appointment, please monitor your referral dates or check with your Specialist’s rooms well in advance, so you are able to book your Doctor appointment to obtain a referral.

Doctors are unable to backdate referrals as per Medicare Australia legislation. This includes follow up or ongoing consultations with the Specialist as arranged by them. A referral from a General Practitioner (GP) to a Specialist lasts 12 months, unless noted otherwise.

In cases of urgent need only where an appointment is not possible, our Doctors may provide a referral to your usual Specialist only, for which a fee of $50.55 will apply.

Full payment of the private fee is expected at the end of  each consultation, after which you will then receive your Medicare rebate. View our fee schedule here. Health Care cardholders will be charged at a reduced rate.

A non-attendance fee will apply if you do not provide at least two hours’ notice of your cancellation, and this fee will need to be paid prior to next seeing a Doctor.

Our Allied Health providers may have other cancellation polices; please check with Reception.

Additional appointments for the day become available each morning. Phone lines open from 7:45am weekdays and 8:30am Saturdays.

We are closed all Public Holidays. View our regular opening hours here.

You can get health advice 24 hours a day via Health Direct, a Government-funded resource. You can call and speak to a Registered Nurse on 1800 022 222, or visit their website for a symptom checker and other resources. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/

When the Practice is closed, our phone number diverts to an after hours locum service.

Home visits during the day are only provided after prior discussion with your GP.

Medicare Urgent Care Clinics

This service give you more options to see a doctor or nurse when you need care for urgent, but not life-threatening health conditions, and cannot get an appointment at your usual GP. For more information: https://www.health.gov.au/find-a-medicare-ucc

Child & Adolescent Virtual Urgent Care
The Women’s and Children’s Hospital provides this service 7 days a week from 9am to 9pm. This service is staffed by highly skilled paediatric emergency Nurses and Doctors who will assess your child and provide advice or referral to an appropriate service for ongoing care. For more information: https://www.wch.sa.gov.au/emergencies/virtual-urgent-care

Results will be viewed by your Doctor who will either leave a comment on file for Reception to advise, or request an appointment to discuss findings and ongoing care options. Please call Reception 3 – 7 days after the tests have been done, between 1-5pm weekdays, to check your results, unless your Doctor has instructed otherwise.

Reception can only pass on limited information provided by the Doctor. If you are wanting to discuss your results, please make sure you book a follow up appointment with your Doctor at the time of the first consult to avoid delay or waiting for a next available appointment with your Doctor.

We are limiting requests for printed paper results via Reception (this includes requests for email copies). If you require a paper record, this can be requested during your next appointment at the Practice.

A copy of your results can be available electronically through your MyHealth Record. Pathology results (Clinpath and SA Pathology) will be uploaded to your MyHealth Record after 7 days. Some results are available through the providor’s own platforms. If you wish for other results to be uploaded to your MyHealth Record (eg imaging reports) please ask the Radiology company or submit a request at Reception to have them uploaded from your file.

Anyone in Australia who has Medicare or an individual healthcare identifier (IHI) can use MyHealth Record. You need a myGov account to access your record. For more information about MyHealth Record:  https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/my-health-record

You will receive an SMS reminder for your appointments the day before your consultation. We also send electronic notifications of clinical reminders when you are due (such as Bowel Screening and Cervical Screening tests, and vaccinations) via SMS. These clinical reminders are protected by an identification process which require you to provide your surname and date of birth to identify yourself before the text will open. Please let us know if you do not want these services or you have questions about them.

If you would like to speak with your Doctor please make an appointment. This includes referral and script renewals, and any paperwork or medical form requests.

Our Practice Nurses can provide advice and care for acute and chronic illnesses. They are well equipped at handling queries and liaising with Doctors if needed.

Email Communication

Doctors at this Practice do not use email for communication with patients. Doctors do communicate with other Specialists using an encrypted communication system, which ensures confidentiality of your information.

We understand email can be a convenient and effective method of communication. Adelaide Health Care takes privacy of personal health data very seriously. Unauthorised disclosure of healthcare information may have far-reaching consequences for the individuals impacted.  For security, our strong preference is to use secure messaging services when communicating electronically with other health professionals and health services.

There are risks of communicating via email which we try our best to address. There will always be alternatives to use of email.

Emails from Adelaide Health Care are unsecured and unencrypted. This means, if the email is intercepted during transmission, it can be easily read. Emails may be sent to the wrong person or could be read by an unintended recipient. Passcode protection is available for some emails we send and is preferred where available.

Before we send any personal information via email, we will test the email address you provide. Please advise us of changes to your email address.

Facebook

Please be advised our Facebook page is not monitored regularly.  This is a practice information page only. We do not take messages or make appointments through our Facebook page. If you need to get in touch or make an appointment please phone the clinic on 08 8410 0774 or book online.

In order for the Practice to maintain good relations with our patients, the Practice would like to respectfully remind patients that the following will not be tolerated:

• Aggressive or discourteous behaviour, be it violent or abusive, verbal or physical.
• Unrealistic or persistent demands.
• Remarks or statements with sexual or racial connotations to or about any staff, including comments that are not intended to offend or harm, such as jokes or unwarranted attention.

We would like to respectfully remind patients that staff are often challenged with a multitude of varying and difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time.  Our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances.  We understand that unwell patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and we will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint. Requests will be met within the guidelines of our Practice policies wherever possible, and explanations given when they cannot.

There are times when your Doctor may be running late. There may be an emergency requiring the immediate attention of the Doctor, external calls from hospitals or aged care facilities requiring an immediate response, IT problems that create delays and most commonly, giving attention to urgent patient care needs as they arise.

We thank you for your patience and understanding. You are welcome to phone Reception to check how your Doctor is running for time, closer to your appointment time.

To transfer your medical record from a previous clinic to Adelaide Health Care, please fill out and sign this form. Once completed and signed by the patient, it can either be posted, faxed or dropped off to Reception at Adelaide Health Care. Alternatively, you can send the form directly to your former Practice.

If you have moved to a new Practice and require your notes to be transferred from Adelaide Health Care, please contact your new Practice to sign an authority form.

At Adelaide Health Care we can print a health summary for you at no cost, however if you require your complete medical record to be transferred, there will be a fee of $32.50 to cover our administration costs for this process.

Suggestions and feedback are very welcome at Adelaide Health Care. You can do this in one of the following ways:
– Email: officeadmin@adelaidehealthcare.com.au
– Write a letter: 43 Carrington Street Adelaide 5000
– Telephone on 8410 0774 and ask to speak to the Practice Manager
– Make an appointment with the Practice Manager to discuss in person
– Health and Community Services Complaints Agency PH: 1800 232 007

To view Adelaide Health Care’s privacy policy, click here.

Using health information for quality improvement and research
Adelaide Health Care uses patient health information to assist in improving the quality of care we give to all our patients. Your information held by the Practice may be used in research projects to improve healthcare in the community; however, this information will not include data that can identify you.