Stirling Medical Centre Policies

CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY

Stirling Medical Centre is committed to providing comprehensive general practice care to all
individuals and families in the community. All patient consultations and medical records are
kept strictly confidential. Staff are committed to maintaining patient confidentiality. 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. Our full Privacy
Policy, which includes information about collection, use and disclosure of health information, is
available to patients on request.

TESTS AND RESULTS

All patients require an appointment with their doctors to follow up any tests requested during
the consultation. It’s a good idea to make a follow-up appointment when your tests are
initiated.

SCRIPTS, REFERRALS AND FORMS

Please make an appointment with your GP for these. They will not be provided by phone
request or via family members. Medicare requires that the Doctor sees you in person to address
the problem for which you are being treated/referred. Referrals are ideally obtained from your
usual GP as correspondence from the specialist is returned to the referring Doctor. Forms
should be completed during your appointment and may not be left for the Doctor

ACCESS TO YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS

You are welcome to request a copy or summary of your records, if you are, for instance, moving
interstate or overseas, or need them for another purpose. We do in these cases, ask you to sign
a ‘Request for Release of Patient Information’ form.
Depending on the individual situation, you will be informed of any fees that may be applicable.

AFTER HOURS SERVICE

For after hours medical care, you can request an after hours, bulk-billed doctor home visit by
calling Doctor Doctor (13 26 60) from 6pm weekdays, 12 noon Saturday, all day Sunday and
public holidays. More information is available at www.doctordoctor.com.au
Doctor Doctor does not treat requests for routine medical care. All routine medical treatment,
such as prescription repeats, immunisations, referrals, check ups or chronic disease
management, should be handled by your usual GP.
Doctor Doctor is not a service for medical emergencies. For medical emergencies at any hour,
please telephone 000 or go to your nearest hospital Emergency Department.
After your home visit, Doctor Doctor send a medical report through to the patient’s nominated
GP, so they are kept in the loop. This is important to maintain continuity of care, because your
family GP knows your medical history, and is the best person to manage the ongoing health of
you and your family.

REMINDERS

Our practice is committed to preventative care. You may receive a reminder notice from us
from time to time, offering you preventative health services appropriate to your care. Please
remember this is a courtesy reminder, it is your responsibility to follow up any recommended
actions in a timely manner. If you do not wish to receive such reminders just let us know.

APPOINTMENTS

Please help us to manage our time and yours by booking your regular appointments for
Reviews and Prescriptions ahead of time. It’s a good idea to try to book around 2 weeks prior
to running out of prescriptions.
This allows for those who require urgent medical attention to been seen on the day.
If for some reason you cannot attend your appointment, please let the surgery know as early as
possible.
Despite our best intentions, we sometimes run late! This usually happens when someone has
needed unexpected urgent attention. Be assured, when it comes to your turn, the doctor will
give your problem the time it deserves. Thank you for your consideration.

NEW PATIENTS

New patients are always welcome at Stirling Medical Centre.
To streamline your first visit to our clinic, please fill out our new patient form.

https://www.hotdoc.com.au/forms/stirling-medical-centre-new-patient-registration-form

The new patient form can be filled in online, then saved and emailed to:

reception@stirlingmc.wwwaz1-sr100.supercp.com

Alternatively, you can print and fill out the form manually and bring it along to your first visit.
New patient forms are also available at reception.
Please ensure you book an appointment length appropriate to your needs.

PATIENT FEEDBACK/FURTHER INFORMATION

This practice is committed to providing comprehensive high quality general practice care to all
individuals and families in this community. If you have any concerns or require further
information about any aspect of this practice or the care you receive, please feel free to talk to
our doctors, receptionists or practice manager who will hopefully be able to help. You can also
fill out one of our feedback forms which are located in the patient waiting area.
Where possible, problems are best dealt with in the practice, so that they can be resolved as
quickly and comfortably as possible.
If a satisfactory outcome is not achieved then complaints can be directed to the Health Services
Commissioner by calling 03 8601 5200.

CONTACTING YOUR DOCTOR BY EMAIL

The doctors do not have access to receive or send email. Due to security and privacy concerns
doctors will not send email to patients and patients should not try to send an email to their
doctor.