Patient Information
Did you know?
We have introduced online booking through HotDoc! Patients can now book appointments at their own convenience, online, using the HotDoc booking platform. The booking pages are accessible 24 hrs p/day, allowing you to review available appointment times with each of our practitioners, and schedule an appointment for a time that suits you.
Macksville Medical Centre is a registered immunisation provider
Keeping on top of your immunisation requirements can become complex. Whether you need advice on COVID 19 vaccinations, travel vaccinations before you travel overseas or the childhood immunisation schedule – contact us for an appointment today. Our qualified Nurse Immuniser and General Practitioners are available to discuss and arrange your immunisation requirements.
Appointments
Our practice uses integrated scheduling software devised to help manage the smooth running of each doctor’s consultation schedule, with the aim to deliver better patient outcomes.
Patient awareness and cooperation are the most successful way to ensure appointments run to schedule.
You can assist by:
- Advising if you may require an interpreter
- booking your routine appointments in advance
- monitoring your medications and scheduling an appointment for your prescription renewals to avoid running out.
- Informing us of the general nature of your needs when booking
- Confirming the details of reminder notices issued by our clinicians / practice.
- Including an appt to see the Practice Nurse in conjunction with the doctor.
- Letting us know if any of the following are needing to be addressed:
- multiple, complex or chronic health issues
- emotional issues, mental health concerns
- excision, biopsy of skin, wound review or dressing
- medical examinations (e.g. drivers licence renewal).
Billing Information
The doctors and support staff at Macksville Medical Centre aim to provide quality, patient-centred, affordable medical care to the local community.
The costs of running an accredited medical practice, such as ours, continue to rise, with Medicare rebates and Government supports not keeping pace. The result being that it is no longer viable to continue bulk-billing all consultations. As of 1 July 2022 our practice operates under a “mixed billing” policy.
What will this mean for you?
We strive to keep patient costs to a minimum, and although many of our services will continue to be bulk billed under Medicare, you may incur some out-of-pocket costs associated with your GP attendances/services.
Services that will attract a fee:
There are some consultation types that (as per government guidelines) are not subsidised by Medicare, and as such require payment of full fee for visit and do not attract the Medicare rebate.
Examples of these types of appointments range from: travel vaccinations, medical assessments for private, commercial or employment reasons, patients who do not hold a Medicare card, or appointments that are relative to an accident or injury claim. e.g. Workcover
Code of Ethics
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) defines General Practice as:“A practice that provides person centred, continuing, comprehensive and coordinated whole-person health care to individuals and families in their communities.” We sincerely feel that the services offered by us are reflected comfortably within these guidelines.
Confidentiality
Our practice has a strict confidentiality policy. All consultations and records are kept strictly confidential and cannot be discussed or reproduced without your consent. It is our practice policy to maintain security of personal health information at all times. This information is only available to authorised members of staff and treating health professionals.
Emergency/after hours
In the event of an emergency, please phone 000
Our standard hours are of service are – Monday to Thursday from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm and Friday 9.00 am -4.00 pm
When our practitioners are not available after-hours, or for emergency care, please call 000 or attend the emergency department at Macksville District Hospital, 100 Darruya Road, North Macksville, NSW 2447.
Ph: 02 65 983 300.
Emergency situations like acute asthma attack, chest pain, severe burns, electrocution, severe vomiting etc. need to be treated in a hospital setting. Time is very precious in such circumstances, and we highly recommend you call 000. Having an ambulance cover for your family would be a good idea.
Medical Certificates
Medical certificates are legal documents and will only be issued upon request following a medical assessment by the treating doctor who undertakes an assessment of the presenting medical condition and in whose opinion agrees that the patient is unfit for normal duties.
If a medical certificate is requested as the result of a workplace accident or injury, patients will be required to provide claim details from their employer or insurer prior to consultation.
Missed appointments
At times, appointments with our doctors can be limited. Due to the high volume of patient presentations, attendances are very important to us.
If you cannot attend your appointment in person, please notify us immediately to enable us the opportunity to offer another patient the reserved appointment time, and to reschedule you to an alternative suitable appointment time. Time is critical for everyone – you and us.
Should patient non-attendance be recurrent, it may impact on retaining a place within our practice.
Patient Feedback
We strive to continually provide quality services and experiences, So, if we’re doing something well – we would love to hear about it in person or via a Google review! Likewise, if you are unhappy about any aspect of our service, please feel free to contact us, so that we may address your concern.
You can provide feedback directly to your doctor in person, write a letter or email addressed to the Practice Manager practicemanager@macksvillemedical.com.au
To gain further insight on whether there are areas we could improve upon, we may at times, request you to participate in routine (de-identified) patient feedback surveys on our services. Obtaining feedback, comments and suggestions from patient experiences allows us the opportunity to review and align our practices to help identify and assess if there are areas where we need to implement change in order to provide the best patient services.
MyMedicare
MyMedicare is a voluntary registration system that helps us formalise the relationship between our patients and our practice. MyMedicare allows you to nominate a general practitioner as your regular healthcare provider. When you register in MyMedicare, extra funding from the Australian Government becomes available to support our practice to provide more of the targeted care you need.
If you have a valid Medicare card or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Veteran card and have had at least one face-to-face consultation with us in the last 24 months, you are eligible for MyMedicare. It’s easy to register:
- fill out a paper registration form at our practice, or
- complete the registration process in your Medicare Online Account.
Personal details
To ensure compliant handling of your personal and health information, it is of paramount importance that our records reflect your current personal details, which are consistent with your details held by Medicare. To ensure our compliance with regulations, our staff are required to routinely verify the details we have on record. However, we also request that you inform us promptly should any of your personal details alter, such as a change of address, phone number, update to NOK, or if you have been issued with a replacement Medicare card, Pension card or Healthcare Concession card.
Privacy Information
This practice complies with the Privacy Act.
Release of Medical Information
To ensure best care is provided, patients seeking treatment from our practitioners need to authorise the release of their records from other doctors, be it previous GP’s, specialists or hospital records. This will provide us with insight on your medical history, enabling us to provide proper continuity of care for any existing medical conditions. Ask your doctor today about how to request your medical records to be transferred from your previous health care provider to Macksville Medical Centre.
Reminders
To assist with management of our patients and their appointment details, our practice has an appointment reminder system, where patients receive automated SMS notifications/request for confirmation of upcoming appointments. The automated SMS is issued to the mobile phone number recorded as the primary contact method in the patient’s records.
Attempts may also be made to contact you directly if you have not confirmed your appointment with less than 24 hours before your consultation.
Patients can opt-out of this automated service by contacting the practice and informing reception staff.
Routine recalls
Our practice has a recall notification follow up system to help facilitate arrangements for you to be reviewed by your doctor. The system generates a notification via SMS or email to inform patients of the need to book an appointment with the doctor to schedule a routine periodic medical service as recorded in our clinical software.
The health messages are intended for the recipient only, and to access the message details you will first be required to verify your identity. All personal details and health information remains encrypted and secure at all times.
Please enquire with reception staff if you would more details about how this service works.
Telephone and telehealth consultations
in the event you are not able to attend in person, it is recommended to have a discussion beforehand, with your doctor to ascertain whether telehealth appointments are suitable for you.
In most situations, medical assessment is best provided in a face-to-face attendance, however there are a range of reasons where a telehealth appointment may be a suitable alternative e.g. if you have symptoms of, or have tested positive for COVID-19.
If you would like to enquire about a telehealth appointment as an option, please advise reception at the time of booking.
Test Results
Unless otherwise organised with your doctor, please make an appointment to discuss results of tests. If results are received by the doctor and assessed as requiring further discussion, action or attention – you will be contacted to arrange a follow-up appointment with your doctor.
Patients are notified by way of an automated health message issued at the doctor’s request, identifying that they require you to return for a follow up appointment to discuss the matter.
Transfer of medical results to another health provider
We will respond to requests to transfer a copy of your medical records, if we receive such requests from another practice, with your signed authority to do so, or in the event of a medical emergency.
Please be informed there may be an administrative fee for processing your request.
Walk-ins
We aim to offer, and endeavour to accommodate acute medical presentations that can be dealt with in a GP setting, however, we do not encourage walk-ins for general appointment as it disrupts the smooth flow of the appointment system of our practice. Please schedule an appointment ahead of time.
If you have a medical emergency, please phone 000 or attend the emergency department at Macksville Hospital.
Contact Us
Macksville Medical Centre
36 Wallace Street
MACKSVILLE NSW 2447
Phone: 02 6568 1155
Fax: 02 6568 2846
reception@macksvillemedical.com.au
Opening Hours
Monday - Friday 9.00am to 4.30pm