How things workat this practice.

Book online through HotDoc, ring reception on (03) 9948 9176, or book in person at reception. A standard consultation is up to fifteen minutes and suits one clear issue.

If you have several things to discuss, or need a procedure, a care plan, a mental health appointment, a health assessment, an insurance or employment medical, or it is your first visit, ask for a longer appointment. It is far better than raising the real reason as the door is closing.

Our practice is appointment based. Walk-ins are welcome when appointments are available, so please call ahead to check with reception.

If you cannot attend, please let us know as early as you can so the appointment can be offered to another patient.

Ask reception about the practice’s current arrangements for missed appointments so you know where you stand.

We are a Medicare Bulk Billing Practice. Eligible GP services are bulk billed for patients with a valid Medicare card. Bring your Medicare card, and any concession or DVA card, to every visit.

Some services are excluded from bulk billing and attract a fee, including WorkCover, TAC and Reciprocal Health Care Agreement visits, iron infusions, pre-employment medicals, driver assessment forms, medical reports, and some vaccines and consumables. Reception will tell you the cost before anything goes ahead.

Patients without a valid Medicare card pay a fee at the time of the consultation: short $50, standard $80, long $125. Pathology and allied health are billed separately by those providers.

See Patient info and fees for full details.

Results come back to the doctor who ordered them and are reviewed by a GP. If something needs attention, the practice will contact you, but please do not treat silence as confirmation that all is well.

The reliable approach is to book a follow-up appointment when your test is ordered. Results are discussed in a consultation, in person or by telehealth, so your GP can explain them properly.

Clinical Labs collects pathology in the building, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm, so many blood tests can be done straight after your appointment.

Prescriptions are a clinical decision. Your GP needs to check the medicine is still right for you, that the dose still suits, and that any monitoring is up to date, so scripts are not issued without a consultation.

Book while you still have about a week’s supply, especially before a public holiday or a trip away. Telehealth may suit stable medicines. Certain medicines require a face-to-face review.

A referral carries your history, medicines and results to the specialist, and it is what allows Medicare to pay a rebate on their fee, so it needs a consultation to prepare.

Standard GP referrals usually run for twelve months. Referrals cannot be backdated, so if yours has expired you need a new one before the next specialist appointment.

A medical certificate is a document in which a practitioner states that they assessed you and formed an opinion about your capacity. It is based on that assessment and cannot be backdated beyond what your GP can reasonably assess.

If your employer, school or Centrelink will require a certificate, please be seen while you are unwell. We are open seven days, including weekends and public holidays. A certificate does not have to name your diagnosis.

Phone consultations are available where you meet the Medicare eligibility criteria, generally a face-to-face visit at this practice within the previous twelve months, with specific exemptions. MyMedicare-registered patients can access longer telehealth consultations.

Telehealth suits results, stable medicines, mental health reviews and follow-ups. Anything needing examination, and any unwell baby or young child, needs an in-person appointment.

Phone calls to your doctor are first put through to the nurse if available, or the nurse will return your call as soon as possible. The nurse will discuss your concerns with your doctor and arrange for them to call you back as needed.

If your doctor has asked you to call, let reception know and you will be put through, or a message will be taken.

Home visits can only be arranged in certain circumstances as a pre-booked arrangement with the doctor on call. At present, none of our GPs are doing home visits. Please speak with reception about your needs.

We are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, and weekends and public holidays 9am to 4pm.

Outside those hours, National Home Doctor Service on 13 74 25 can attend at home and bulk bills eligible patients, and Healthdirect on 1800 022 222 gives free registered nurse advice at any hour.

In an emergency call 000. Grampians Health Ballarat (Ballarat Base Hospital), 1 Drummond Street North, Ballarat Central, has a 24-hour emergency department, phone (03) 5320 4000.

Your health information is confidential and handled under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic). It is not shared with family, employers or insurers without your consent.

You can ask to see or correct your record, or have it transferred to another practice, by writing to the Practice Manager. Full detail is in our Privacy Policy.

For anything containing sensitive health information, we prefer not to communicate by email, as email is not secure. Please call reception or book an appointment instead.

For general, non-urgent enquiries, email info@delacombemc.com.au. Emails are not monitored constantly, so do not use email for anything time-critical.

A phone interpreter can be arranged for your appointment. Please ask reception when you book. Our GPs between them speak languages including Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Persian, Punjabi, Sinhalese, Tamil and Urdu.

For an Auslan interpreter, book through the National Auslan Booking Service on 1800 246 945.

You are welcome to bring a family member, friend, carer or support person into the consultation. Let reception know when you book if you would like assistance on arrival. If communication takes more time, ask for a longer appointment.

You may ask for a chaperone to be present during any examination, for any reason, and you do not need to explain why. Tell reception when you book, or the doctor at the start of the appointment.

Your doctor will explain any examination before it begins, and you can stop it at any point.

The practice participates in reminder and recall systems for preventive health, screening, immunisation and care plan reviews, and sends appointment reminders and confirmations.

Tell reception if you would rather not receive them. If you opt out, we will still contact you about anything clinically important.

You have the right to safe, high-quality care; to be treated with respect, dignity and consideration; to clear information about your care, options and costs; to be involved in decisions and to give or refuse consent; to privacy and confidentiality; and to comment on or complain about your care.

These rights reflect the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights.

Our social media accounts share clinic news and general health information. We do not provide medical advice on social media, and we will not respond to clinical questions there. Please do not post personal health information in comments or messages.

We do not publish patient testimonials, and staff do not discuss patients on social media.

If something has gone wrong, we would rather hear it. Fill in a Compliment, Comment or Complaint form in the waiting room, speak to reception, ask for the practice manager, or write to info@delacombemc.com.au. Complaints are taken seriously, investigated and used to improve how we work.

If you would rather raise it outside the practice, the Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria) takes complaints on 1300 582 113, and AHPRA handles concerns about a practitioner’s conduct or performance on 1300 419 495.

Everyone here, including patients, families and staff, is entitled to be treated with respect. Aggressive, threatening or abusive behaviour, whether in person, by phone or in writing, is not accepted and may result in care being transferred to another practice.

Please also keep phone conversations and reception discussions discreet, as the waiting room is a shared space.