Here at the Beach Street Family Practice we have been looking after the local community for over 40 years. We strive to provide comprehensive healthcare, with compassion, friendliness and professionalism.

A major focus of the practice has been the teaching of young GP’s in training and medical students.  Come in to the practice and meet our friendly staff. They can help you with all your healthcare needs.

It is necessary to report to the reception desk on arrival to ensure that you are seen in turn. Please let staff know when booking an appointment if you require a longer consultation.

During our busier periods we have scheduled emergency appointments that are held over until the day. These appointments are released at 8.30 am every morning. Although staff endeavour to provide patients with their usual GP, on occasion this may not be possible.

Telephone Access

Phone messages will be taken by reception staff and passed on to the doctor.

Your doctor will return your call if appropriate, or your call will be returned by a staff member at the doctors’ request. In the event of an emergency your call will be transferred to the doctor immediately.

Pathology & X-Ray Results

Wherever possible your test results will be given to you by your doctor. However if your doctor has asked you to phone for results please call between 3.00-4.00 pm and ask to speak to the nurse.

Referral & Forms

Referrals outside of consultations will be done at the doctor’s’ discretion. Charges apply to ALL PATIENTS for these out of consultation services and are as follows:

  • $25.00 minimum: Referral to Specialist/Allied Health
  • $25.00 minimum: Completion of Form
  • $ 2.00 per page: Faxing

Please Note: Our doctors require minimum 24 hours notice for all the above items, they may still ask you to make an appointment

Urgent Access

There are times when patients require urgent access to a GP. Our practice has a system in place to anticipate such needs.

The schedule incorporates set aside emergency appointments that are released at 8.30am every day. Patients are encouraged to call at that time to access these appointments.

After Hours Care

This practice provides 24 hour care for patients on a roster system shared with other Woolgoolga GPs. To reach the doctor on call please call 66540655 or for calls of an urgent nature contact the ambulance on 000.

Please note: Fee for all patients for after hours consultations is $200.00.

Your Rights

If you have a problem, relating to the standards of this practice, we would like to hear about it. Please write or ask to speak to our Practice Manager. However, if you wish to take the matter further and feel that you need to discuss it outside of the surgery you can contact :

Health Care Complaints Commission

Level 13 323 Castlereagh St, Sydney, 2000.

 

Fees

  • Standard Consultation $95.00 – for HCC/Pension Card Holders  $85.00
  • Long Consultation  $154.00 – for HCC/Pension Card Holders  $145.00
  • Prolonged Consultation $182.00 – for HCC/Pension Card Holders  $175.00

Please talk to our friendly reception staff. We are happy to assist with any fee enquiries, including Medicare rebate amounts and consultation definitions. All fees are payable at the time of consultation.

Our Billing Schedule

Beach Street family Practice is a private billing practice.

PLEASE NOTE: Discounted rates are offered for concession card holders, bulk billing will be at the individual doctors discretion.

Prescriptions

To obtain a repeat prescription you are required to make a standard consultation appointment with a doctor.

Billing for this service is at the individual doctors discretion.

Continuity of Care

Patients need to be able to request their preferred GP when making an appointment or attending our practice, and as a result, reception staff make every endeavor to ensure that patients have the opportunity to request their preferred GP and accommodate this in the appointment schedule.

This principle also applies to practices that employ general practice nurses and/or allied health professionals as part of the practice team. These areas are extremely important for continuity of patient care.  If patients are unable to obtain an appointment with the GP of their choice they will be advised of the availability of other GPs at this time.

Reminders & Recalls

Our practice is committed to preventative care. We may contact you by phone from time to time offering you preventative health service appropriate to your care. Please let staff know if you do not wish to be contacted in regard to these recalls.

Confidentiality

Your personal health information is safeguarded and stored securely. Confidentiality is respected at all times.

Failure to Attend Appointments

(also known as DNA – did not attend)

Occasionally it can be difficult to make a routine appointment, something that impacts this is the problem of missed appointments ie DNAs.

When a Patient does not turn up and has not contacted the Practice to cancel the appointment the opportunity to offer this appointment to another patient is lost.

Patient non-attendance at a booked appointment causes increased waits times. This also prevents the practice form offering the booking to another patient who was in need. 

DNA POLICY

A DNA occurs when:

  • an appointment is not attended
  • the Patient has not contacted the Practice in advance to cancel it or
  • where the cancellation is so late that it makes it impossible to allocate that time to another Patient who needs treatment.

 

DNA Fee

There is a fee of $50 per consultation or $85 for a double consult for an appointment that is not attended or not cancelled within 2 hours of the appointment time.

Failure to settle the fee will result in access to all services being suspended until accounts are paid. If multiple DNAs occur the practice reserves the right to terminate access to our services.

Please advise the Practice if of any changes to contact details.