FAQ's

 STANDARD CONSULTATION

are generally around 15 minutes long enough to discuss a single issue or two simple issues. 

Please book a long appointment if you have several issues to discuss. Not suitable for Care Plan appointments - eg Mental Health or Eating Disorders

 LONG CONSULTATION

Some appointment types require a longer appointment time, specifically: 

• Mental health care plans
• Procedures - insertion/removal of contraceptive devices
• Insurance medicals
• Skin biospy/removals
• Multiple issues or complicated medical history

HOME VISITS

Home visits can be arranged for LFM patients who are very ill or those with a disability.  If you require a home visit please speak to your doctor. Please note that appointments are subject to the doctor’s availability and may attract additional fees. Generally we are only able to service with a 5km range of the surgery. 

Urgent Results

Your doctor will review your results and decide if your results are urgent, need follow up, or if no action is needed. 

• For urgent concerns, we will give you a phone call
• If your results require further action or discussion we will contact you to make a non-urgent follow up appointment
• Please book an appointment if your doctor hasn't requested a follow-up consultation but you are still experiencing symptoms

TELEHEALTH APPOINTMENTS 

Telehealth appointments continue to play a role in the delivery of care. Please note: 

• Telehealth appointments are privately billed at the same rates as our in-surgery appointments
• You will need to have been seen at the surgery within the previous 12 months to qualify for your Medicare rebate
• To confirm your booking you will need to provide a method of payment prior to consultation when booked online. Reception booked telehealth will require payment directly following your appointment. 

CHANGES TO TELEHEALTH SEPT 2023

Any bulk billed Telehealth appointment by your doctor, such as the giving of normal standard results now require your electronic consent. Hotdoc will send you a link via SMS or email and you will need to verify your details and follow a simple 2 step process.

If you are not able to or comfortable to use SMS or email for consent purposes you will need to pay the rebate amount privately but you will be rebated the full amount by Medicare, which will organise for you. 

EMERGENCIES

We will always do our best to accommodate urgent appointments. However, in the case of an emergency, always ring Triple 000.

Priority will always be given for sick children and babies for urgent / emergency appointments. Please advise reception for a priority appointment, particularly if you are experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain, and weakness on one side or children with very high temperatures.

REMINDERS

We provide SMS reminders at least 24 hours before your scheduled appointment. It remains your responsibility, however, to remember your appointment time.

CANCELLATION FEES

We understand plans change however If you have not been able to provide adequate notice (2-3 hours) of a cancellation or have not attended a scheduled appointment a cancellation fee of $50 min will apply. 

SCRIPTS AND REFERRALS 

You will be required to make a short appointment with your doctor for a repeat prescription and referrals to ensure proper management of your medication. If everything is up-to-date and no other issues are discussed the appointment should incur little to NO out- of- pocket cost to you.

(Referrals cannot be backdated)

TELEPHONE CALLS - NEED TO SPEAK WITH MY DOCTOR

Doctors will always take urgent calls. As we aim to provide interruption free consultations for everyone, for non-urgent matters, we ask you to leave your details with reception for a return call.

TEST RESULTS

To ensure privacy and protection of our patient health information, we only release test results to the person to whom they relate.

Ask your doctor at your appointment how best to receive your results.   

In all cases

•  your doctor will review your results and decide if your results are urgent, need to be followed up, or if no action is needed.
• For urgent concerns, we will give you a   phone call
• If your results require further action or discussion we will  contact to make a non-urgent follow up appointment 

Please book an appointment online if your doctor hasn’t requested a follow-up consultation and you are still experiencing symptoms.

– at times it may not be appropriate to give results over the phone and the requesting doctor will need to see you in person.

RECALLS

We believe that preventative care leads to better health outcomes and from time to time you may be contacted by one of our Practice Nurses in relation to repeat tests, immunisations and general follow up.

OUT OF HOURS

Our GP locum service provides out of hours home visits by qualified GPs. Please call 13 74 25 (13SICK - National Home Doctor Service).

SATURDAY APPOINTMENTS

We offer a limited Saturday clinic from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Bookings and same day appointments are available. Please note there is no bulk billing on Saturdays.

IN HOUSE PATHOLOGY SERVICES

run by LAVERTY Pathology

YOUR PRIVACY

LFM strictly adheres to the National and State laws governing privacy and the collection of personal information. All patient information and medical records are kept strictly confidential. A copy of our Personal Information Privacy Policy is available at reception. This policy contains information about the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information.

Privacy Policy

We value your feedback

We are committed to improving our services. Please let us know about any suggestions you may have for our improvement.

You can find our suggestion box at our front desk. 

We would also like to hear from you if we are doing something well. 

CONCERNS / COMPLAINTS          

Should you have a complaint, we would like to know immediately so that appropriate steps can be taken to address the issue.

Please contact the Practice manager by telephone or email; practicemanager@drferraris.com.au

We review all suggestions and complaints we receive about our services and will deal with any issue fairly, promptly and thoroughly.

COMMUNICATION POLICY

Telephone and face-to-face consultation remain the principle ways we communicate with our Patients. 

SMS- Our patients are given the option of being contacted by SMS.  At this practice we only use SMS for appointment reminders not for recall appointments or health promotional activities.

For a copy of our full Communication Policy please ask our Reception team. 

Email: It is a policy of this practice not to communicate sensitive or personal information via email.

It is acknowledged that in some situations patients will need to communicate via email, for example, patient travelling overseas requiring emergency care. If a patient chooses to contact the practice via email this will be considered as patient consent to reply via email.

Patients must be aware that any communication they direct to the surgery via email is NOT secure and confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. Patients communicating through email do so at their own risk.

ACCESSING  YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS

In accordance with the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000, you are entitled to access personal information about yourself held by this organisation. An administration fee applies to cover tasks associated with this service, eg. preparation and photocopying. Every endeavour will be made to process Requests for Information within 30 working days. Your medical record contains sensitive personal information. Once in possession of this information, we recommend you take all appropriate measure to safeguard your privacy. 

See Patient forms - Home Page