10 -15 minutes are allotted for a normal appointment. If you consider that a longer time is required, please discuss this with the receptionist when making your appointment. Longer appointments will be necessary for insurance and pre-employment medicals, superannuation medicals, removal of moles and other lesions, full medical examinations, driving medicals for heavy vehicles or taxis, well women check-ups that include pap smears and breast checks and first antenatal visits.

We will be running practice nurse clinics on Monday and Wednesday mornings to attempt to provide better patient access. These will involve a 15 minute appointment with one of the practice nurses, and then 5 minutes with the GP and nurse together. We believe the same level of care will be provided by our primary health care team, and therefore these appointments will be charged the same as a normal GP consultation.

When attending for your appointment, please report to the reception desk. It is a requirement that valid Medicare as well as relevant Commonwealth Concession cards are presented at every consultation. Please inform the receptionist at the time of requesting the appointment if the problem is urgent - for example, chest pain, acute shortness of breath, acute bleeding.

Missed Appointments

As a courtesy to the doctor, as well as to other patients, please be punctual for your appointment. Please note that should you miss your appointment without 24 hours notice, Alice Springs Family Medical Centre reserves the right to charge a $40 missed appointment fee. Please note that this fee is not reimbursable by Medicare.

We are a fee-paying clinic. Depending on the length of consultation, the fee (and medicare rebate) will change. Any consultation necessitating the use of consumables, liquid nitrogen, pregnancy tests etc. will attract a separate fee. We will be able to provide services including basic fracture management, rehydration, intravenous antibiotics, suturing and other activities often diverted to the Emergency Department. These services will attract the appropriate fees that can be discussed with our receptionist and practice manager. They often have higher medicare rebates attached, which means the actual out of pocket expense is less. We will ensure patients are fully aware of any treatment costs prior to commencement of that service.

Currently, standard consults are charged at $60, with longer consults starting at $115. Please enquire with our receptionists prior to making an appointment if you are unsure. The expectation is that you will pay after your consultation; we do not generate invoices. It is necessary that a valid Medicare as well as any concession card be produced at each visit.

Home visits are available for the ill and infirm. Wherever possible, it would be appreciated if you could attend the clinic. In the event that you require a home visit, please inform the clinic as early as possible in the morning so as an appropriate time can be set aside for the doctor to visit and so as the day can be planned more appropriately. As we are starting with one full-time GP home visits are going to be extraordinarily hard to organise. Please be aware that home visits are generally more expensive than standard consults held at the clinic. A standard home visit will cost $80 +.

Outside our normal consulting hours, please ring our standard number 08 8952 7774, which will give you a message regarding our after hour fee structure and the mobile number to call. We will only provide after hours care to patients who have already been seen at ASFMC.

The fee structure changes quite dramatically after 2300hrs. A standard after-ours call out to the clinic prior to 2300 will cost $160. A home visit after hours will cost $180. After 2300hrs the fee will escalate and will need to be confirmed between the doctor and patient prior to consultation.

The ASAP clinic situated on the Alice Springs Hospital campus provide after hours services 1900 – 2300hrs Monday – Friday, 1600 – 2000hrs on Saturday and 1000 – 1200 & 1700 – 1900hrs on Sunday. The ASAP number is 0889517577.

Patients are reminded that they must always either have an appointment with their doctor or practice nurse or telephone for ALL test results. Patients are requested to ring after 11 am for routine test results. Please note that our receptionists are not medically trained and as such are unable to discuss the intricacies and implications of medical results. As such where instructed, the receptionist may ask that you book an appointment with the doctor or nurse to discuss certain results. Please remember that it is your responsibility to follow up your own results.

All messages will be taken by the receptionist and relayed to the doctor or nurse concerned. A consultation will not normally be interrupted to answer the telephone. Please note that the doctors and nurses operate on a fairly tight schedule and messages may not be checked till the end of a consulting session. In general, telephone conversations cannot replace a face to face medical consultation and as such, please do not expect a medical consultation or diagnosis to be made over the phone.

A full range of routine immunisations is available at all times - an appointment is necessary. ASFMC is an accreditated general practice and as such, you can rest assured that at all times proper vaccination storage and handling measures are adhered to. We also have full-time nurses to assist with our immunisations and can also perform weight and height checks for you children. We plan to be able to provide a comprehensive range of travel vaccinations later in the year, including corresponding MASTA travel advice. We also plan to run “Special Flu” clinic later next year prior to the flu season, likely late March/ April 2007. Stay tuned to the development of that service.

Repeat prescriptions and specialist re-referrals will not normally be issued without doctor - patient contact. Where it has been agreed that such repeats will be issued, 24 hours notice is required and a fee of $10 for prescriptions, and $10 for re-referrals is charged on each occasion. As we are a brand new clinic, this service will not be available for at least the next six months.

SICKNESS CERTIFICATES will not be issued unless a doctor has been consulted in relation to that illness, and cannot be back dated.

The Medical Health Act requires that a doctor’s assessment should take place prior to any referral if a Medicare reimbursement is to be paid - hence retrospective specialist referral forms will not be issued.

Our practice endeavours to provide a comprehensive high quality service for patients. At times we may invite you to complete a questionnaire to identify areas in which we may improve services. We value positive as well as negative feedback to help us improve our service to you.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of your care we are keen to hear about it. Please feel free to discuss any problems you may have with your doctor. We value your opinion in our efforts to serve you better. Our practice manager will also be able to discuss any particular matters of concern.

We believe that any problems are best dealt with in the practice.

Please address your complaints in writing to:
The Practice Principal
Alice Springs Family Medical Centre
PO Box 4246
Alice Springs NT 0871

However, if you feel the need to lodge a complaint outside our practice, you may write to:

Medical Board of the Northern Territory
PO Box 4221,
Darwin
NT 0801
Ph 0889994157

OR

Heath  & Community Services Complaints Commission -
PO Box 2388,
Alice Springs NT 0871
Phone Toll free 1800806380
Alice Springs ph 89515818  - fax 89515828

Alice Springs Family Medical Centre adopts the AMA code of ethics. We stress that all patient consultations and medical records are kept strictly confidential.

New privacy laws became effective in Australia on 21st December 2001. These laws ensure that individuals consent to the collection of personal and sensitive information about themselves, including health information. Alice Springs Family Medical Centre has a Privacy Policy which describes why we collect information, the type of information we keep, how we use it and how you may access it.

Written consent will be gained from each patient should we ever be involved in any research or audit programmes. As we plan to have medical and nursing students involved in our practice later in the year, consent will always be obtained prior to their involvement with patients. The act allows patients to access the content of their medical record by arrangement with the practice.