Consultation Types

New Patients

Initial appointments are for 30 minutes. This allows the GP and nurse to obtain a comprehensive medical history.

Standard Appointments

A standard appointment is allocated 15 minutes and is usually enough time to address 1-2 health issues.

Long appointments

Long appointments are allocated up to 30 minutes. You are asked to make a long appointment if you have a complex problem or several issues to discuss.

Skin Checks

A skin check will usually take 15 minutes but may take up to 30 minutes depending on the number of lesions that need reviewing.

Mental Health appointments

This type of appointment is usually 20 minutes.

If you need a Mental Health Care Plan to facilitate a referral to a Psychologist, this may include the need for blood tests and other investigations to satisfy Medicare legislation prior to the issuing of the referral. If this is the case, you will need to see the GP for an initial appointment and again after the blood/investigation results are available to complete the plan and referral.

Test Results, Scripts and Referrals

15 minutes are allocated for these appointments.

Travel medicine advice

These appointments are for 15 minutes. More time will be required if there are multiple people (eg families) requiring advice. This is because issues such as age and each person’s individual medical history needs to be considered.

Antenatal care

30 minutes are allocated for your initial antenatal appointment.

Cost

Please note that for all of the above appointments, your out of pocket cost will be the same regardless of the length of the consultation.

Health Assessments, GP Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements

These types of appointments usually take 45 – 60 minutes. The Practice Nurse will spend 30 – 45 minutes with you completing the necessary paperwork, making sure your medical record is up to date and undertaking any necessary clinical assessments. Following this, you will see the GP for about 15 minutes for review and completion of the plans. These consultation will be direct billed to Medicare for ALL qualifying patients.

Procedures

Different procedures take varying amounts of time. Prior to any procedure or intervention, you will need to see the GP to discuss the issue and treatment plan options. The GP will then determine the necessary length of time needed.

Workers compensation and Third Party Injury

Initial appointments require 30 minutes. This is due to the amount of paper work required to be completed.