Are you a new patient?

Please download and complete the new patient information form prior to your first appointment.

Fees and policies

Fees and billing policy

The doctors practicing within the McLeod Street Medical complex bill privately.  Medicare is the patient’s subsidy, and it does not fully fund high- quality general practice care.  Exceptions to this relate to Department of Veteran Affairs gold card holders and white card holders for specified conditions.

All childhood immunisations are bulk billed if the child is registered with Medicare.

Fees are payable at the time of your consultation by cash or EFTPOS.

You may claim your Medicare rebate immediately though Medicare Easyclaim and have the payment paid into your bank account through the EFTPOS terminal.  Alternatively, you may choose to utilise Medicare online claiming, whereby the rebate is paid by Medicare into the bank account you have registered with them.

Your GP may refer you for clinical investigations such as blood or imaging tests, to a specialist, or to an allied health professional.  These services may incur out of pocket costs, you should contact the provider to discuss this.

Consultation Fees

Standard Consultation (Level B) up to 15 minutes           $ 102.00
Long Consultation (Level C) up to 30 minutes                  $ 188.00
Extended Consultation (Level D) – Up to 45 minutes      $ 285.00

Telehealth consultation fees are comparable to the fees above however you will only be able to claim a Medicare rebate if the patient has had a face-to-face consultation at the practice within the last 12 months.  A member of the reception team will contact you after your telehealth consultation to organise payment.

Other Fees

There may be times where your care will attract charges that are additional to the consultation fee.

Procedures such as Mirena and Implanon insertion or removal, skin excisions, baby tongue tie division, iron infusions or additional tests are charged separately to the consultation fee.

Consumables

Consumables are disposable items that your doctor may use for your treatment and include items such as dressings, infusion kits and pregnancy tests.

Consumable items include, but are not limited to:

  • Dressings – $10 – $35
  • Facility Fee – $75–e.g., for iron infusions or certain procedures
  • Pregnancy Tests – $18

Where applicable, these costs are GST inclusive.

Informed Consent

Informed Consent

Your general practitioner, nurses and other healthcare professionals aim to keep you informed about the purpose, importance, benefits, risks and possible costs of proposed investigations, referrals, or treatments, including medicines and medicine safety. It is important that patients receive sufficient information to allow them to make informed decisions about their care.

You are encouraged to be actively involved in your healthcare and to work in partnership with your doctor to ensure that you get the care that is right for you. To assist with this, you may like to use the publication Top Tips for Safe Healthcare to help guide your discussions.

Top Tips for Safe Healthcare

Appointment Information

The Goal

To help provide comprehensive primary care with minimal waiting times please discuss your needs with your doctor or the support staff.  If it is not possible for you to consult with your doctor of choice, you may choose to accept the first available appointment with another GP.

In the case of an emergency please call 000. If you feel that your health care matter is of an urgent nature, please let reception know so that they can triage your needs effectively to allocate you an appropriate appointment.

Your contribution

Your doctor respects your time and tries hard to keep to schedule, however to do this they need your help. It is important that you book an appointment length to match the complexity of the issue. Please think about what you hope to achieve, what issues your doctor might need to cover and any complicating factors.

If you have more than one issue to discuss, please book a long appointment. If you need to discuss mental health issues, we also recommend a long appointment.

How to choose your appointment length

The following guidelines will help you to make your appointment:

First visit as a new patient Usually 15 minutes with a nurse followed by 30 minutes with your G.P. Please call to schedule.
Antenatal check 15-30 minutes (30 minutes if this is your first pregnancy or if you have several questions).
Health Assessments These are available for 45–49-year-olds and those over 75 years of age. We recommend you see your doctor first to confirm eligibility.
Childhood check and immunisation’s Usually 15 minutes with your GP followed by 15 minutes with the nurse. Please call to schedule.
Mirena insertion/removal Must be discussed with your GP prior to scheduling an appointment for insertion. The procedure usually takes 30 minutes. Removal is straight forward and can be performed in a standard consultation.
List of various concerns 15 minutes if short (1-2 items).

30 minutes if long (up to 4 items). It is unlikely that your doctor will be able to address more than 4 items in a single appointment.

Chronic Disease Review & Care Plans These will require 30 minutes and must be booked with reception.
Mental Health There are various and often changing Medicare funded options to assist with the out-of-pocket costs of mental health care in the community. You will need to have your eligibility checked for a Mental Health Care Plan or a care plan review, therefore you often may need to see your G.P first and return for a plan to be performed.
“I just need a script” 15 minutes if longer than 6 months since your last review or if you have other issues to discuss.  A telehealth appointment may be appropriate if you have seen your GP within the last 6 months.
Referrals 15 minutes for a condition that has been reviewed recently or longer if it has been over 6 months since your last review and you have other issues to discuss.
Follow up for results or symptoms 15 minutes.
Driver’s License These require a 15-minute appointment with our nurse followed by a 15-minute appointment with a G.P. Please book through reception.

Telehealth Appointments

Telehealth allows you to consult with your doctor without the need to visit the practice.  Telehealth uses technology such as computers, telephones, and the internet.

Before booking your Telehealth consultation: 

Ensure that any tests your doctor has asked you to do, such as blood tests, x-rays or scans have been completed and that there is time for the results to get to the doctor.

If you are a parent or carer of the patient, please ensure that the patient can be present for the consultation.

Check what space you will use for your appointment to ensure privacy.  Consider who you are with or who could overhear the consultation.  The doctor may decide not to proceed with the consultation if they determine that privacy and confidentiality are being breached.

On the day of your appointment: 

Check the list of things you may need, such as a pen and paper to take notes, health information such as a current medications list or a list of questions and topics to talk about.  Do you need any prescriptions or referrals?

During the consultation:

Your doctor will confirm their own identity as well as your identity and obtain your informed consent for the consultation to proceed.  They will ensure that your privacy and rights to confidentially are respected. The doctor will then assess your condition and provide you with the relevant referrals, scripts etc.  If a physical examination is necessary, you will be asked to make an in-person appointment.

After the consultation:

Reception will contact you for payment and they will submit your claim to Medicare for  rebate.    You should make a follow-up appointment if necessary.  Follow the health plan discussed with your doctor.

Video Consultations

Your doctor will send you a text message with a link asking you to click on the Start Video Call button. The app will request you to allow the use of your camera and microphone.  Click Allow to continue. When you select start a video call you will be asked to enter your name, phone number and date of birth.  Please be aware that by clicking Continue you are accepting the terms and conditions listed.  Read the important information and click Continue to proceed.   You are now waiting to be seen and your doctor will join you when they are ready.  You will see a live video of yourself however this is not recording or viewed by anyone else – it shows your camera is working and keeps the waiting screen active until your call is joined and your consultation begins.  If something goes wrong your doctor may call you on your phone.

On-line bookings

Most appointments can be made online.  Go to www.hotdoc.com.au or download the App from your App store.  Please ensure that your email and mobile phone details are up to date.

Tips

  • Consider the issues of concern and book enough time to cover everything
  • Bring a list if you have more than one concern
  • If you think you may need to be seen sooner, please discuss this with a receptionist
  • Notify reception as soon as possible if you cannot keep your appointment
  • Be prepared to participate in planning your health management
  • Be willing to follow through with the plan and arrange follow-up as necessary
  • Make sure you understand the results of any tests you have had
Book an Appointment

Repeat Scripts

The doctors at McLeod Street Medical issue scripts at their discretion and reserve the right to refuse script requests. Scripts for Schedule 8 (S8) medicines such as oxycodone, benzodiazepines, narcotics, opioids and other drugs of addiction or antibiotics will not be issued without an appointment.

If you need a script, please make an appointment to see your regular doctor. Scripts for ongoing medication can be issued via a telehealth appointment but you must have an arrangement with your doctor, and you must have had an in-person consultation within the previous six months.

Please contact reception at least 5 days before your medication runs out to schedule your script appointment.  Your doctor may charge a fee for this service.

Referrals

Please make an appointment to discuss referrals with your GP. If you have misplaced an existing referral, please call reception and arrangements can be made to re-issue these. We suggest that when you are given an investigation request, such as for imaging or blood tests, that you take a photo of this with your mobile phone as these requests cannot be re-printed.

Results

Your doctor will advise you when to expect investigation results, however the general time frames are usually two-seven days for blood tests, up to ten days for cervical screening tests and histology and 24 to 48 hours for imaging reports.  You will receive a text message if your doctor wishes to discuss these with you or if further action is needed.  In some cases, the nurses may contact you by telephone to discuss your results however, if you require more detailed information than they can provide, or if you have any concerns regarding your results, please make an appointment with your GP.

The receptionists are not trained clinicians and do not have access to your results.

Open Disclosure

McLeod Street Medical aims to promote high quality and safe care for every patient. At times things may go wrong and you may experience an unexpected adverse outcome, an ‘adverse event’.

If this happens, you can expect to have an open discussion with the treating team, your family members and / or carer(s) about:

  • what happened
  • what is being done about it and
  • the steps we are taking to prevent it from happening again

Open disclosure is the name given to this communication process.

Please refer to the Open Disclosure information sheet link below for further information.

Open Disclosure information sheet

Your Healthcare Rights

Everyone who is seeking or receiving care in the Australian health system has certain rights regarding their care. You can read more about your rights in the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights link below.

Charter of Healthcare Rights

Transfer of Records

If you request a copy of your medical records, you will be asked to sign an authority for release.  You may then provide reception with a USB, and a copy of your file will be transferred to the USB for a charge of $44.00.  If you would like a printed copy the fee is $44.00 plus 10c per page.

Communication Policy

McLeod Street Medical communicates with patients and third parties by several means.

Face to Face– This can be via consultation with your doctor or nurse or interactions with other practice staff.

Telephone – Patients can contact reception between 8:00am and 5:00pm Monday to Friday and between 8.30am and 11.00am on Saturday.  Reception staff may use a triage system to assess the urgency of your needs and concerns. Reception staff will also perform a three-point identifier check to ensure the correct patient file is matched to the patient on the phone. Please note, it is often not possible to speak to the doctor at the time of calling. A secure message will be sent to the doctor for action, exceptions may be made if the matter is deemed to be urgent.

Fax– Faxes received that are patient related are imported directly into the patient’s file. These are then reviewed and actioned by the doctor. Any urgent patient related faxes are brought to the attention of the doctor immediately.

Email – Email is not a secure form of communication and is not encouraged by McLeod Street Medical. Patients must be aware that any communication they direct to the surgery via email is also NOT secure and confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. Patients communicating through email do so at their own risk. If you do choose to contact the surgery via email, this is considered as patient consent to reply via email.  Support staff endeavour to respond to email messages within 24 hours. If you have an issue that requires urgent attention, please contact the practice via telephone.

SMS – SMS messages are sent to remind patients of scheduled appointments, health reminders and health recalls. Please make sure that you update the practice if there is a change to your mobile number. Please let reception know if you would like to be removed from the SMS list. Please be aware that if another person can access your mobile phone, then the confidentiality of these communications cannot be protected by McLeod Street Medical.

Post– For patients who have opted out of SMS, a letter may be sent regarding reminders or recalls. Letters received by the suites are scanned into the patient health record and forwarded to the doctor to review.

Website– The website is updated regularly and contains contact details, location, opening hours and information regarding fees and services offered. The online booking service and after-hours doctor service details are also available.

Diversity Policy

McLeod Street Medical strives to maintain a healthy, safe, inclusive, and productive environment which is free from discrimination and harassment based on race, colour, religion, political beliefs, gender, gender identity, socio-economic or cultural background, sexual orientation, marital or family status, age, national origin, or disability.  Discrimination, harassment, vilification, and victimisation will not be tolerated.

We are committed to the principles of merit, fairness, and respect and aim to provide a working environment where all doctors and support staff can perform their duties without being subject to discrimination, abuse, or inappropriate behaviour.  Bad language and harassment are not tolerated.

After Hours Care

After Hours Care

You can access a doctor after hours by calling 0438 521 583.  The fee is $190 prior to 11pm and $220 after 11pm or on weekends.  In accessing this service, you agree to incur the associated costs.

Home Visits

Home visits may be available if you have an existing relationship with a GP and if your condition prevents you from attending the surgery.  If you feel you need a home visit, please contact reception to discuss the issue.

Reminder System

You may be sent a reminder offering health services appropriate to your care. We use a Secure Mobile Notification (SMN) that delivers the reminder to your mobile phone. If you do not wish to participate, please let your doctor or the reception staff know.

In some instances, we may transfer medical information to national registers, such as the Australian Immunisation Register, the National Cervical Screening Register, and the National Bowel Cancer Screening register to improve care.

Interpreter Service

The Australian Government offers a free Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS).   If you would like to utilise this service please inform reception when making your appointment.    Additionally, you may access a local Japanese interpreting service through Ms Akemi Fukatsu.

 

TIS        1300 131 450

Akemi   0423 762 772

Australian Sign Language   1800 246 945

Feedback

We welcome feedback as a path to improving the care provided to you and your family.  Your doctor, the practice manager, and staff are open to suggestions and to hearing about your concerns so please feel free to talk to them.  If you are more comfortable expressing your concerns in writing, please email the practice manager through admin@mcleodstmed.com.au.  Your concerns will be taken seriously and we will do our best to address the issue in a timely manner.

If you feel your complaint has not been resolved satisfactorily you can contact the formal complaints body for Queensland through:

Office of the Health Ombudsman
PO BOX 13281
GEORGE STREET
BRISBANE QLD 4003
Ph 133 646
www.oho.qld.gov.au

Personal Health Information

When you register as a patient you provide consent for your GP and the support 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?

Personal information may be collected to provide healthcare services to you. The main purpose for collecting, using, holding, and sharing your personal information is to manage your health.  It may also be used for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes.

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your:

  • names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
  • 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
  • health fund details

The practice privacy policy is posted on the website and available for download in the Privacy tab.

Privacy

Your medical record is a confidential document. It is the policy of these medical suites to always maintain security of personal health information and to ensure that this information is only available to the doctors and other authorised support staff. Our commitment to your privacy means reception staff are unable to provide you with detailed information in relation to your results or other information contained within your personal health record.

Disclaimer
In complying with the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000, McLeod Street Medical provides advice to users of it’s website about the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.  The aim of this advice is to inform users of this site about:

  • What personal information is being collected
  • Who is collecting personal information
  • How personal information is being used
  • Access to personal information collected on this site
  • Security of personal information collected on this site.

The privacy policy is posted on the website and available for download.
The website is continually monitored to ensure it is kept current and up to date.

These health suites do not endorse any advertised services or products. Advertising must comply with the MBA Code of Conduct on advertising available at http://goodmedicalpractice.org.au/

Privacy Policy

Read more about us

Established in 1992 McLeod Street Medical is a fully AGPAL accredited medical practice with doctors, nurses and support staff committed to your on-going and preventive health care.

Situated at 67 McLeod Street Cairns, we are centrally located with ample parking and wheelchair access.

Opening Hours

Monday 8:00am—5:00pm
Tuesday 8:00am—5:00pm
Wednesday 8:00am—5:00pm
Thursday 8:00am—5:00pm
Friday 8:00am—5:00pm
Saturday 8:30am—11:00am
Sunday Closed

Facilities

  • Wheelchair Access
  • Onsite Pathology
  • Onsite Pharmacy
  • Radiology Nearby
  • Eftpos and Credit card payment facilities