OTHER SERVICES OFFERED

Child & Adult Immunisation

COVID Vaccination

Travel Vaccines

Diabetes Management

Minor Surgery

Health Assessments

Chronic Disease Management Plans

Spirometry

Wound Care

REMINDER SYSTEM

Our practice is committed to preventative care.  We may issue reminder notices from time to time offering patients preventative health services appropriate to their care.  


APPOINTMENTS

Appointments are preferred however URGENT cases will be dealt with on a needs basis.

Long Appointments:  A long appointment is important for more complex problems - insurance medicals, health reviews, counselling, travel medicine etc.  Our reception staff can advise of an appropriate time to come in for a long consultation.

Appointments can be made online using the Healthengine booking link on our HOME page or by phone.


COVID VACCINES

We are a covid vaccine clinic.  Vaccine appointments can be made online or over the phone.  


TELEPHONE CONSULTATIONS

Most problems are best dealt with in a face to face consultation however telephone consultations are currently available to eligible patients for repeat scripts, repeat referrals, certain results, patients with flu-like symptoms or isolating patients.  A doctor is available during normal surgery hours for emergency advice.  Our staff are experienced in deciding the appropriate response to any phone request.   Emergency calls will be processed urgently.  

For life threatening emergencies always call 000 and request an Ambulance.


Patients requesting a phone consultation rather than face to face consultation for reasons other than listed above may incur consultation fees at normal rates.



HOME VISITS

Home visits can be arranged at the Doctors discretion for patients unable to attend the Clinic.  Fees apply.


TEST RESULTS

All test results are strictly confidential.   Patients are required to make review appointments with their referring Doctor to discuss test results in person or via telephone if appropriate.


CULTURAL BACKGROUND and ETHNICITY

It is the commitment of our practice to provide the best preventative care.  To ensure that care is tailored to the patients needs we encourage patients to identify their cultural background and/or ethnicity on their medical record.  


MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

A patient medical file is a confidential document.  It is the policy of this practice to maintain security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of staff.

Communications Policy

St Leonards Surgery engage in communication via telephone, SMS message, in person fax and limited email.

Receiving and returning Telephone Communication

Our staff ensure that three identifiers are used at the beginning of each call to clearly and correctly identify the caller.  We will ask Date of Birth, Name, Address and or mobile number.

Where we are returning telephonic communications, we use the same principles as above, being careful to correctly identify the person we are speaking with before discussing any information with them. 

 

Telephone calls from patients will not generally be put through to our doctor. Our reception staff will take down contact details and a message to pass on to your doctor, or book a telephone consultation for the doctor to return your call.  Our doctor will be in touch on the same day, or if they are not available on the day, the next time they are scheduled to be in clinic.

SMS

St Leonards Surgery use Healthengine and Best Practice Software for secure SMS communication,  reminders and recalls.  

FAX

While faxes are reviewed on a daily basis, we kindly advise we can take up to 3 working days to respond to your query. For any urgent queries, we recommend calling our clinic for immediate attention.

EMAIL

Please be advised that email is not routinely monitored. We will attend to your query as soon as possible, but request that you allow us 48 hours to respond and encourage you to please phone reception on 52571960 for a more immediate response.  Risks are associated with electronic communication in that the information could be intercepted or read by someone other than the intended recipient.  

 

COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK

Patient feedback on our service is always welcome.  We strive to improve for the benefit of our patients.

Any Queries, Feedback or Complaints can be directed to The Practice Manager.

If still dissatisfied, patients may contact the Health Services Commissioner:

Health Services Commissioner

Level 26, 570 Bourke Street

Melbourne 3000

or PHONE 1300 582 113


St Leonards Surgery Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.

Why and when your consent is necessary

When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?

Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (eg staff training).

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your:

  • names, date of birth, addresses, contact details, Next of Kin and Emergency Contacts
  • medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
  • Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
  • healthcare identifiers

Dealing with us anonymously

You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.

How do we collect your personal information?

Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.

  1. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
  2. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information through eHealth Services such as electronic transfer of prescriptions, My Health Record (Shared Health Summary), SafeScript, Australian Immunisation Register.
  3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or telephone us or make an online appointment.
  4. In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:
  • your guardian or responsible person
  • other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
  • your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We sometimes share your personal information:

  • with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy.
  • with other healthcare providers
  • when it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)
  • when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
  • to assist in locating a missing person
  • to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
  • for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
  • when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
  • during the course of providing medical services, through electronic transfer of referrals or prescriptions, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).
  • Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.

We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.

Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information is stored in electronic form.  Our practice stores all personal information securely.

How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.

Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing and our practice will respond within 30 days.  Fees may be applied for this service.

Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to Practice Manager, St Leonards Surgery.

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure.

You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

Policy review statement

This policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure its compliance with Privacy Regulations.