Patient Information

Appointments

Consultations at Eastern Shore Doctors are by appointment only. You may make an appointment by telephoning the Practice Number or online by clicking on the link on our home page.

A standard appointment is approximately 15 minutes duration, however a double appointment (30 minutes) is required to be booked if you:

• are having an initial consultation with our Practice;
• wish to discuss several issues during the one appointment;
• require a full medical check-up;

Please make sure the receptionist knows you have arrived so that the doctor is informed you are waiting.

Our Doctors aim to run on time and your punctual attendance will assist this. At times however, we may be running behind schedule and our reception staff will endeavor to advise you of this prior to your appointment.  We understand that your time is valuable and you would prefer not to have to sit in our waiting room for too long waiting for a doctor.

We also ask that you contact the surgery should you be running late for your appointment.

Cancellations

From time to time, circumstances arise whereby you are not able to keep an appointment. In this event, we ask that you cancel your appointment by calling our receptionists at least 2 hours prior to the time or by accessing our online appointments and making the cancellation. The earlier you cancel an appointment the better as it allows the Practice to allocate that time spot to another patient.

In the event you do not attend but do not cancel, there may be a fee which will not be able to be claimed from Medicare.   

Urgent Medical Care

In the event of an emergency phone 000 for urgent medical assistance.

If you have an urgent medical problem please let our reception staff know.  We will do our best to see you as soon as possible. Sick children will always be seen on the day.

After Hour Medical Care

The Practice has a collaborative arrangement with the After Hours Doctor at Derwent Park. Therefore, if you need to see a doctor outside our normal surgery hours, please contact;

After Hours Doctor Tasmania
252 Main Rd Derwent Park
Telephone 6165 2361

http://www.afterhoursdoctor.com.au/

After your visit, the After Hours Doctors will forward a record of your visit to enable us to update your medical file.

You may also contact Healthdirect on 1800 022 222 which is a free national medical helpline where you will be able to discuss your symptoms with a Registered Nurse who will provide advice.  

Patient Test Results

As a general rule, your doctor will advise you on how you will be notified of your results. Your doctor may advise our receptionist staff to call you to;

• advise that your results were clear  or;
• to make a follow up appointment to discuss your results or;
• confirm that a recall / reminder has been scheduled for your next check-up.

Our receptionists and nurses can only provide general information as instructed to them by the doctor. They are bound by confidentiality protocols and are not trained to interpret medical results especially if more detailed explanation of the results is required.

If you want full details of test results please make an appointment to see the doctor.

Referrals

You will need to attend an appointment with a Doctor for all referral requests.

Medical Certificates

All requests for a Medical Certificate must involve a consultation with the doctor.  Please advise reception at time of booking if your appointment is simply to obtain a Medical Certificate.

Repeat Prescriptions

In most cases we need to see you in order to assess your need for a repeat prescription. In selected cases we can accommodate your request to issue a repeat script without appointment at the discretion of the doctor, as long as you have been seen by the doctor in the last three months. In this case, please allow two working days’ notice for collection. There is a charge for all scripts written without an appointment.

Recall/Reminder System

The practice offers patients to go on our recall system and/ or reminder for health checks. If you do not wish to be contacted for these, please inform us.

Privacy and Your Health Information

Eastern Shore Doctors is committed to maintaining absolute privacy and confidentiality in regard to patient consultations and medical records.  We collect information from you for the primary purpose of providing quality health care.  We require you to provide us with your personal details and a full medical history so that we may properly assess, diagnose and treat illnesses and medical conditions, ensuring we are proactive in your health care. 

To enable ongoing care, and in keeping with the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles, we wish to provide you with sufficient information on how your personal information may be used or disclosed.  Your personal information will only be used for the purposes for which it was collected or as otherwise permitted by law, and we respect your right to determine how your information is disclosed.  The information we collect may be collected by a number of different methods, and may include, but not limited to: medical test results, notes from consultations, Medicare details, data collected from observations and conversations with you, and details obtained from other health care providers.  The Practice normally allows access to patient records by all doctors in the Practice and by Medical Students under the strict supervision of the treating doctor.

In accordance with the Australian Privacy Principle 12, you have the right to request access to your personal information, unless an exemption applies.  This can be requested by filling in one of our Personal Health Information Request Form.  For further information, refer to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website: www.oaic.gov.au

At all times we are required to ensure your details are treated with the utmost confidentiality. Your records are very important and we will take all steps necessary to ensure they remain confidential.

A copy of our Privacy Policy is available here.

Suggestions/Patient Feedback

The Practice aims for continuous improvement. To assist us, we welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please speak to your doctor or a staff member, or use the suggestion box in the waiting area.

Patients are invited to complete a questionnaire to assist us in improving our service and to obtain valued information on patient experience. These surveys are anonymous.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of the care you have received from this Practice, we want to know about it. Please talk to the Practice Manager or your GP about any problems you have with the services we provide.

If unresolved problems remain, you can contact the Health Complaints Commissioner, GPO Box 960, Hobart, 7000. Ph: 1300 766 725 or by visiting the Health Complaints Commission website http://www.healthcomplaints.tas.gov.au/home